SB 389 
.S76 
1846 
Copy 1 




I went a wooing down the vale. 
And whispered love with fondest sigh, 
While mirth went round or startling talc. 

Then famine stalked with fearful strides, 

And gnawed at stalwart manly hearts, 
And tore each loved one from our sides ^ 

'Tis madness that the thought imparts. 
I struggled with this demon wild, 

For things grew sadder daj- by day, 
I stroA'C to nourish wife and child. 

But one by one they pined away. 

•Twere better thus a thousand fold. 

To die beneath the old roof tree. 
Than perish in yon ditch from cold, 

"Where ruthless man had driven me. 
A stranger will from henceforth sow 

And reap this rich and fertile soil, 
And in my own loved home below 

A stranger rests from daily toil. 

This sod from off mj- poor wife's grave 

Is all on eartli that I hold dear, 
While far across the Atlantic wave 

I'll shed my lonely bitter toar. 
"Tis thus thy hearths, dear latherlaiif^ 

Arc reft :>f.ioy, of love, nd lighi. 
,^Iade desoUxLe by th,- spoiler's hfiid- 

Tlic lust of gold hjs only right. N 



^ 



THE 



CULTIVATION 



OF 



AMERICAN GRAPE VINES 



AND 



MAKING OF WINE. 



BY ALDEN SPOONER. 



BROOKLYN: 
A. SPOONER & CO. PRINTERS, 57 FULTON-STREET, 

1846. 



fej« 






Southern District of JsPew- York, ss. 

BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the twenty-third day of June, Anno 
Domini 1846, Alden Spooner, of the said District, hath deposited in this 
office the title of a Book, the title of which is in the words following, to wit : 
" The Cultivation of American <^rape Vines, and Making of Wine, by Alden 
Spooner:" the right whergof^ie claims as Author and Proprietor, in con- 
formity with an act of Congress, entitled " An Act to amend the several Acts 
respecting copy-rights." 

J. W. METCALF, 

Clerk of the Southern District of J^ew- York. 



INDEX. 






rage 

Introduction 5 

'.^ Brief History of the Vine 7 

^ of Foreign Vines in America 9 

of American Vines 10 

History of the Isabella Vine 13 

Soil — Climate— Exposure 17 

Propagation of Grape Vines 19 

By Seeds 19 

By Buds or slort cuttings 20 

By Cuttings... 21 

By Layers 23 

By Graftins 23 

Vines in Pots 28 

Pruning and Training • 29 

Planting and transplanting 38 

Manuring the Vine 39 

Forcing Grapes in Hot-Houses 40 

Insects, Blight, Rotting, &c 43 

Vineyard Culture 45 

American Grapes and Vineyards , 48 

Various Uses of the Vine 53 

Visit to an American Vineyard 57 

Conversation on Grapes 59 

Making of Wine 69 

' of immature Grapes 74 

Receipt for Making Currant Wine 83 

Grapes cultivated near New York 86 

Domestic Uses of the Vine 87 

Explanation of Terms 95 



INTRODUCTION 



It has long been a matter of surprize that the cultiva- 
tion of Grapes, and making of Wine, has not engaged 
more of the attention and labors of our enterprizing citi- 
zens. Wiih a vast expanse of country, embracing every 
variety of soil and climate, and the Grape growing spon- 
taneously in the woods, from Canada on the north, to the 
Gulf of Mexico on the south, there could never have 
been a doubt of its successful cultivation by any one who 
would give it the requisite skill and attention. The 
southern States, and Florida in particular, promise the 
greatest success in producing the European kinds of 
Grapes ; but the northern States, and even Canada, 
exhibit the assurance that native Grapes may be success- 
fully ripened in the open air. 

The great success of» two varieties of the American 
Grapes — the Isabella and the Catawba — and the rapid 
spreading of their cultivation, has induced me to give to 
the public the benefit of what experience I may have had 
in their culture. In the year 1838, at the request of 
Jesse Buel, Esq., then the editor of the paper entitled 
•* The Cultivator," and published at Albany, I wrote a 
brief sketch of the Isabella Grape, which had obtained 
great favor on Long-Island, and which I had taken much 
1 



VI. INTRODUCTION. 

pains to scatter abroad, by distributing cuttings to all who 
would accept of them. I also included in my sketch all 
I had experienced in wine-making. Tlie Cultivator of 
May, 1838, contains my remarks, which have been re- 
published in other papers, and I multiplied copies in my 
own paper (the Long-Island Star) for gratuitous distiibu- 
tion. The inquiry for information on this subject, still 
continues. I am sensible there are some persons of more 
experience in raising and trimming the vines, and in ma- 
king wine, and I hope they may hereafter correct my 
errors, if such shall be discovered. For such facts as did 
not come under my own observation, I am indebted to 
the very excellent periodicals of the present day ; and it 
was my object to embrace in a small compass such inter- 
esting facts relative to grape culture and wine-making, as 
that every man owning a lot of ground of any dimensions ^ 
may raise his own grapes and make his own wine. 



CULTIVATION 

OF 

AMERICAN GRAPE VINES. 



BRIEF HISTORY OF THE VINE. 

I SHALL not attempt to give a botanical descrip- 
tion of the Grape Vine. It is called the Viiis 
Vinifera of Europe, and some have supposed our 
American Vines to have had the same origin. — 
There are some forty species, and an immense 
number of varieties. The practice in foreign vine- 
yards of having different species and varieties in 
contiguity, would naturally cause an intermingling 
of numerous kinds v^ith slight shades of difference. 

There is no period in the history of man, in 
vsrhich the Vine is not mentioned in language of 
grateful testimony that it is a blessing of the high- 
est value. Its fruitfulness and its qualities, were 
well known in the days of Noah, and in all subse- 
quent periods of time. Scripture in numerous 
instances has language peculiarly drawn from the 
culture of grapes and the wine — the pruning of 
the Vine — the treading of the grapes, which was 
the ancient method, and the wine press, are all 
incorporated with sacred writ. 

It is stated that a Helvetian named Helicon first 
made known the properties of the Vine at Rome, 



8 HISTORY OF THE VINE. 

and that the interchanges of commerce soon spread 
it abroad. Phitarch and Livy give it a Tuscan 
origin. A late writer, Thiebaut de Berneaud, tells 
us that from the first appearance of the Vine in 
France the cultivation spread in every disposable 
corner, wherever a fitting soil and exposure could 
be found. This excited the jealousy of Rome, 
who, under pretence of preventing the recurrence 
of famine, decreed that the Vineyards should be 
turned into wheat fields, and caused a general grub- 
bing up of the Vine throughout the territories of 
Gaul. This took place A. D. 92. It was so 
rigorously executed, that the inhabitants were 
obliged to resorc to beer and other fermented 
drinks, such as had been in use before the intro- 
duction of the Grape. The ferocious Domitian 
was detested for this violation of the natural rights 
of the people whom he should have protected, but 
the edict nevertheless remained in force for two 
centuries — when Probus, in A. D. 282, restored 
the cultivation. The restoration occasioned a long 
festival of rejoicings, and the people with great 
alacrity renewed the Vine culture, and spread ii 
to ail the neighboring nations. 

In 1556 the Vines were again prohibited through- 
out France, on the ground of their monopoly of 
the earth, and the labor, from more important 
tillage. After eleven years the law was revoked, 
and the Vine once more allowed free growth. 
About the beginning of the eighteenth century 
another attempt was made at restriction; and it 
was not until the revolution of 1789 that every 
owner of the soil was allowed to improve it in his 
own way; since which time the prosperity of the 
Vine cultivation in France has added vastly to the 
happiness of the people and the wealth of the 
nation. 



FOREIGN VINES. 9 

OF FOREIGN VINES IN AMERICA. 

Many of the attempts to raise Grapes from 
foreign Vines in the open air, have resuked in loss 
and disappointment. The late Mr. Parmentier, 
of Brooklyn, Long Island, devoted much labor and 
expense on foreign Vines to very little purpose. 
Mr. Loubat also, who had seen much of Grape 
cultivation in France, planted a vineyard of forty 
acres at New Utrecht, L. I., which had 150,000 
Vines of various sizes, and for some years flattered 
himself with hopes, which resulted in disappoint- 
ment. In some few instances in Brooklyn and 
New York, where the Vines were protected by 
surrounding buildings, the Chasselas Grape and 
other foreign varieties yielded well, thereby only 
demonstrating that such fruit can be obtained if 
cultivators will be at the trouble of erecting proper 
houses for the purpose. 

In the year 1827 1 planted fifty foreign Vines, some 
of which were from France and obtained from Mr. 
Parmentier and Mr. JiOubat — others were from 
Germany, and obtained from Mr. Knudsen. In 
four years I was able to exhibit five kinds of fine 
Grapes at the horticultural exhibition of New York, 
at Niblo's garden; but the Vines produced few 
good bunches, and very soon none at all. The 
Vines and shoots continued to grow for several 
years, but tlie fruit was mouldy and black before 
the period of ripening, and thus were worthless. 
Many gardeners and amateur cultivators, made 
great and judicious attempts to raise foreign Grapes 
in the open air, but they all gave up the fruitless 
labor. 

Very fine foreign Grapes, especially the black 
Hamburgh, have been raised in hot houses in New- 
York, Boston and other places. The late Judge 
1* 



10 AMERICAN VINES. 

Buel recommended a cheap green-house, which 
he described in the Oidtivator, for raising foreign 
Grapes without artificial heat. It is well worthy 
of trial. 

The government of the United States, in order 
to encourage Grape cultivation in this country, 
have made several grants of lands in different parts 
of the southern and western States, to intelligent , 
foreigners well acquainted with the business, who 
have brought over their foreign vines, and given 
them great attention. All these have failed, until 
they adopted the native Vines — a fact worthy of 
much reflection and investigation. We may pre- 
sume, therefore, that foreign Vines must be raised 
in grape-houses, or by patient changes of cultiva- 
tion be gradually naturalized to our climate. 



OF AMERICAN VINES. 

In the first discovery and settlement of America 
Grape Vines were seen in profusion in the woods, 
and their value and peculiar properties could not 
fail to become known. 

There can be no doubt that Vines have been 
long cultivated and much wine made in America. 
In the Spanish colony of Coahuila, in Mexico, on 
the Rio Del Nort, about the 29th degree of North 
latitude, fine Grapes were raised and much wine 
made at an early period of the colony ; but the 
culture was for some caupe forbidden hy the 
crown, probably from fear of competition with the 
vineyards of Spain. It was officially stated by 
the Deputy from Coahuila to the Cortes of 1812, 
that this North American province produces con- 
siderable quantities of good wine — a number of 



AMERICAN VINES. U 

districts and vineyards giving wines as delicious 
as those of Castile in JSpain. He adds that the 
raising of wine is one of the most productive 
branches of their agricuhure, and so great that 
they supply the neighboring colonies, and even 
send some of the finest to Mexico. 

I learn from a communication of Dr. James 
Mease, of Philadelphia, that before the American 
revolution a quarter cask of wine made by Doctor 
Howard, of New Brunswick, N. J., was sent to 
the Society for the encouragement of arts, manu- 
factures, &c., in London, and the society presented 
him thirty guineas as a reward. Mr. Tasker, of 
Maryland, and Mr. Antd, of Shrewsbury, Mon- 
mouth County, N. J., are named as among the 
early cultivators of the Grape. Mr. Antil had a 
vineyard of several acres, and wrote a paper on 
the subject which appears in the first volume of 
the American Philosophical Society. He cultiva- 
ted foreign Vines only. 

In 1769 the French settlers in Illinois made one 
hundred and ten hogsheads of strong wine from 
native Grapes. 

In 1793, Peter Legaux, a French gentleman, 
obtained of the legislature of Pennsylvania the 
incorporation of a company for cultivating the 
Vine. They purchased a farm at Spring-mill, 
Montgomery County, diirteen miles from Phila- 
delphia, on the Schuylkill. For one year only 
prospects were favorable ; but divisions and dis- 
sentions arose and the stockholders sold out in 
disgust, and the vineyard went to ruin. 

In the early settlement of the now city of New 
York, a gentleman had a very fine garden at 
Hoboken and raised many Grapes. In the woods 
of that place are now to be seen very large Vines 
running wild into the tops of the tallest trees. 



12 AMERICAN VINES. 

It is recorded that in the early settlement of 
Long-Island a vineyard vi^as cultivated near South- 
ampton, by Mr. Fournier. We understand very 
good wild Grapes are now in great plenty in the 
woods and swamps near that place. 

At Harmony, near Pittsburgh, a vineyard ot ten 
acres was planted and cultivated by Frederick 
Rapp and liis associates from Germany. They 
afterwards removed to another Harmony, in In- 
diana, on the east bank of the Wabash, where 
they continue the cultivation of wine and silk to 
■ the present time. 

A Swiss colony settled about fifty years ago in 
Jessamin County, Kentucky, and raised a fund 
of ten thousand dollars for the express purpose of 
a vineyard. They planted foreign Vines and failed. 
In 1801 they removed to a spot which they called 
Vevay, in Switzerland County, Indiana, on the 
Ohio river, 45 miles below Cincinnati. Here they 
planted native or naturalized Vines and succeeded. 
A recent article in a newspaper says — '' They 
turned attention to our native Vine, first to the 
Cape Grape, and subsequently to the Isabella and 
Catawba. After forty years of experience they 
consider our climate and soil inferior to those of 
Switzerland for producing saccharine matter, and 
consequently wine. They say that, in this coun- 
try, twelve pounds of Grapes are required to make 
a gallon of wine, and, in the old country, ten 
pounds. At one time they had forty acres under 
cultivation ; now only five. They say they can 
cultivate other products to greater profits." 

The government of the United States, desirous 
ot encouraging the cultivation of the Vine, and 
making of wine, made extensive grants of the 
public lands for this patriotic service, to some of 



ISABELLA GRAPE VL\E. 13 

the distinguished exiles of France, who chose 
Greene County, in the then territory of Alabama 
for that purpose, as being the most promising 
cHmate for the Vine. They planted a small colony 
of cultivators, who brought out numerous varieties 
oi their favorite Vines ; but after great labor and 
perseverance they were compelled to reHnquish it 
in despair. It was discovered about the time of 
their quilting, that the Vines of Vevay, Indiana, 
which they obtained from the Agent of that asso- 
ciation at New Orleans, would succeed well. The 
small remains of the colony were finally successful 
in cultivatmg from native Vines. 

At Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, Mr. 
Adluni cultivated a vineyard, and made nmch 
wine, of which he, in a patriotic manner, gave 
specimens to all the members of Congress. He 
also published a small book on the subject of wine, 
which I made my guide in the matter of wine 
making. His favorite Grape was the Catawba, 
and his vineyard flourished until his death. 



HISTORY OF THE ISABELLA GRAPE VINE. 

This justly celebrated Vine has obtained a 
general cultivation along the coast of the United 
States, and in Canada. The fruit when well 
ripened is very fine as a table Grape, and it is also 
well known to make an excellent wine, capable of 
being preseived for years. Many persons have 
expressed an interest to know its origin, and I 
will proceed to state all the facts I have been able 
to obtain. 

The Isabella Vine first obtained its notoriety in 
the garden of George Gibbs, Esq., at Brooklyn, 



14 ISABELLA GRAPE TINE. 

Long-Tsland, about the year 1816. His lady ob- 
tained it from North Carolina, and after its value 
became known she gave cuttings liberally to her 
neighbors. A few gentlemen of Brooklyn, in 
compliment to her, gave it her name, Isabella, and 
exerted themselves to multiply cuttings, and make 
its qualities known. By the aid of various publi- 
cations, in the Long-Island Star and other papers, 
it soon became the cherished ornament and pride 
of every garden and door-yard. No dwelling is 
so humble as not to nourish its Vine — no yard too 
small to admit its delicious shade and fruit. 

The following letter, which gives the only 
information I possess relative to the origin of the 
Isabella Vine, was communicated by the gen- 
tleman to whom it was addressed, David Kimberly, 
Esq , of Brooklyn, and published in the Long-Island 
Star of July 2, 1838— 

Wilmington, N. C, June 9, 1838. 

Dear Sir: — Please accept my thanks for the paper 
containing an essay upon the culture of the Isabella 
Grape. You request a repetition of the history of that 
Vine, as given me by Bernard Laspeyre, Esq., a native 
of France, very intelligent, and who resided for many 
years in the vicinity of this place, and who may be called 
the father of the Grape culture in this part of North 
Carolina. Mr. Laspeyre stated that many years past, 
upon a visit to Charleston, S. C, he became acquainted 
with a countryman of his fname I do not recollectj who 
had a few years previously travelled through France and 
the most of Spain. The culture of the Grape was an 
interesting topic to both, and his friend invited him to 
visit his garden, where he had in full bearing a Vine 
which he brought with him from Spain (1 think from 
AndalusiaJ and with which he was more pleased than any 
which had come under his observation. Mr. L. was 



ISABELLA GRAFE VINE. 15 

also much taken with the Viae, and made arrangements 
to procure as many of the cuttings as his friend could 
spare, who stated to him that he had endeav^ored to spread 
the Vine as widely as possible in South Carolina by 
giving cuttings to gentlemen from different parts of the 
state, whenever he met w ith one likely to take care of 
them. The following season Mr. Laspeyre received a 
number of cuttings which, he divided with his acquain- 
tances, and among others Gen. Benjamin Smith, from 
whom (I think) Mrs. Gibbs procured the Vine which 
she carried to Long-Island. 

Mr. Laspeyre planted the portion reserved on his farm, 
about IS miles from this place, and in a very few years 
had a handsome vineyard, which was the " wonder and 
talk" of the whole neighborhood. 

The stage road from this to Fayetteville passes within 
a short distance of his residence. It so happened that 
the stage was broken in his immediate vicinity, and a 
Spanish gentleman, who was a passenger, inquired if no 
person cultivated Grapes in a country which seemed so 
well adapted to it. He was told of Mr. Laspeyre's 
vineyard, and having plenty of time he procured a guide 
and called upon Mr. L. who carried him to see his 
Grapes. Upon entering the enclosure his first exclama- 
tion was, "Ha, you have got my countryman here, I 
know him well, and it is one of the finest Grapes in 
Spain.'' 

The above is the history of the Isabella, as related to 
me by Mr. Laspeyre ; if he mentioned the name by 
which the Grape is known in Spain, I have forgotten it. 
Mr. L. was amused at the idea of its being an American 
Grape. It is generally known here as the Laspeyre 
Grape, and also as the Isabella. The friends of that 
excellent Lady, Mrs. Gibbs, give the latter name the 
preference, and it wdl no doubt be continued. 

P. A. S. 

It thus appears that the Isabella Grape had its 



16 



ISABELLA GRAPE VINE. 



origin in Spain, and has been adapted and natural- 
ized to the climate of most of the United States. I 
hear of its cultivation as far North as Canada, but 
with what success I cannot learn. I should much 
doubt whether it would ripen well in Canada. In 
the vicinity of New York it is sufficiently ripe for 
the table about the middle of September, and is 
sometimes on the Vines 1 ng after the frost, and 
continues to improve; but if they are unripe on the 
approach of frost they become w^orthless. If any 
bunches remain very late by reason of any peculiar 
protection, they become exceedingly sweet and 
pleasant. This particular kind of Grape is here 
regarded as above all price, and the descendants 
of Mrs. Gibbs may rejoice that her name and fame 
are connected with this great and delightful blessing. 
The Isabella Vine is particularly adapted to 
cities, as it may be placed in a corner of any small 
yard, and its Vine carried to any height, or to any 
roof or space which maybe desired. It shelters 
ihe domestics at their labor, and soap-suds is an 
excellent manure for its roots. Its qualities are 
known and respected even among the Vines ot 
Europe. Immense quantities are brought to New 
York market, and yet the demand is not saiisjfied. 
Vineyards are rapidly mutiplying thronghont the 
country — twenty-seven acres being thus improved 
in one location at Croton Point. Enough is already 
known of its ivino to pronounce it cheering and 
delightful ; and yet not a gallon has been offered for 
sale, where thousands of barrels might have been 
produced. 

But the time is near at hand when '' every man 
may sit under his own Vine" — and he may also 
drink his own wine, which '* cheers, but not 
inebriates !" 



SOIL, &C. JJ- 

SOIL-CLIMATE-EXPOSURE. 
American Vines can be made to grow and flourish 
m every situation, and in every part of our wide 
spread country ; but tliat the soil and climate and 
exposure is very important to obtain the best 
0.1 apes, .s undeniable. The soil should be a Ii<.ht 
sandy or gravelly loam, with coarse gravelly mb- 
TLa ^^ '°k' f"" "^favorable, and vinevards 
should never be planted in such soils ; but wh^re 

It niay be raised a litt e from the natural soil and a 
sandy made-soil enclosed in a brick or stone en- 
closure to favor the Vine. Stoney, hilly and rocky 
grounds, and sandy plains, like those on them iddl^ 

edltf !fr.PT;" °f.Long- Island, may beconsidei-: 
ed friendly to the Vine. 

A writer says-" I have seen hundreds of acres 
of Vines growing in pebbles from the size of a bean 

vigeTflanh.''^'"' ^" '''' ^^'*°"' 'he least 

Cliw,ate.^Our conntr}- possesses all the Vine 

climates of France Germany, Switzerland and 

Italy, and a larger district than all those combined. 

1 he sea board and Islands are considered pecu- 

gives the best Grape. It appears, however, that 
-buropean Vmes could not be made to succeed in 
Alabama, and we can therefore only recommend 
native or naturalized Vines to our cultivators. As 
vve have very numerous varieties, which have been 
thoroughly proved in various latitudes, we need 
not embark m fruitless labor. 

From a comparison with French culture it is 
beheved Grapes may be cultivated for wine in any 
climate where the maize or Indian corn is a sure 
crop, and never defeated by the frost. 



2 



16 SOILj &c. 

Exposure. — The most suitable exposure for a 
vineyard is in sloping grounds open from the south 
east to the south. No trees should be allowed to 
intercept the sun's rays, nor should any cultivation 
be admitted among the Vines. As land is very 
plenty and as Grapes and w^ine will pay well for 
good cultivation, there is no apology for slighting 
the proper claims of the Yine. 

The following extracts from Rozier's Memoir on 
the Vine^ are interesting : — 

" The Vine is a plant whose transpiration and suction 
is abundant and vehement, which sufficiently indicates 
the soil and exposition natural to it. For this reason 
grounds composed of sand, gravel stones and other rocks, 
are excellent for its cultivation. 

*' A sandy soil produces a fine pure wine — the gravelly 
and stony a delicate wine — rotten and broken rocks a 
fumy, generous wine of a superior quality. 

*' A rich, strong, compact, cold or humid soil, which 
is pressed down by the rains, and which the sun hardens 
or bakes, is essentially prejudical to the quality of the 
wine. 

** The most advantageous exposition for the Vine, is 
that of a gentle slope, or side of a hill, facing east and 
south, on which the rays of the sun continue the longest 
time. 

" Hills in the neighborhood of the ocean and rivers 
ought to be preferred to all others. The lower parts of 
these hills are not so favorable to the Vine as the upper, 
and neither are equal to the middle region, the soil being 
the, same 

*' All trees are unfriendly to the Vine, as much from 
their roots as their shade. It should never be planted in 
soil that can produce grain, and because it wants nothing 
but heat, and thrives best on the poorest ground. This 
will appear ridiculous to those who look for quantity — but 
as to the quality of the wine, it is in strict conformity with 



PROPAGATION. 19 

the laws of vegetation, and with experience. I must be 
understood to speak here of countries only where tem- 
peratures are favorable to the success of vineyards. We 
must except those in more northern latitudes. These 
general precepts admit of no exceptions." 

The celebrated agricultural traveller Arthur 
Young, says immense tracts of land may be ranked 
m France among the most valuable, which in the 
British climate' would be absolutely waste. In his 
journal he says — 

"' PelJecoy. — Pass vineyards of which there are many 
so steep that it is strange how men can stand at their 
%vork. One-third of the country under Vines, which 
are planted on absolute rocks, but calcareous. 

'' Cohors. — Nineteen twentieths under Vines — many 
more than two hundred years old ! 

" Plaisance. — Vine grounds double in price to wheat 
grounds. — In 44 1-2 degrees of north latitude. 

*' PotoUy Chateau-rault, to les Ormes. — Poor hills with 
Vines sell equally with their best vale lands, in 46th 
degree north. 

'* Champagne. — Two-thirds of the country around Ay 
(m 49 degrees N. lat.) under Vines; and here all the 
famous Champagne wines are made."" 



PROPAGATION OF GRAPE VINES. 

Vines are propagated by seeds — by buds or short 
cuttings— by cuttings — by layers — by grafting. 

Planting seeds of Grapes. — It is a general law 
of nature, and manifested as well in the vegetable 
as the animal kingdom, that a material change of 
climate requires time to effect a healthful assimila- 
tion. It cannot well be doubted therefore that 



2i) PROPAGATION. 

European Vines may by degrees be naturalized m 
our country, and I presume some of our excellent 
Long-Island cultivators are now experimenting in 
this matter. If the seeds of European Grapes, and 
the buds of European Vines raised here, can be 
brought to germinate, we may be sure of success= 
Most of our good Grapes may be traced to their 
European origin ; and the field now open for pro- 
curing new varieties by seedlings and graftings 
may afford both profit and delight to amateur cul- 
tivators as well as to nursery-men. We should 
procure a seedling progeny from the best Grapes, 
and from these select the best. The seeds of these 
should again be sown, and the Vines will be better 
adapted to our climate- This is the way to na- 
turalize foreign Vines. 

The innumerable varieties of Grapes in every 
country are no doubt the production of seeds drop- 
ped by birds. As most of these are dioicious^ or 
without having the stamens and pistils on the same 
Vines, they are in most cases unfruitful, unless the 
corresponding Vines are contiguous. Here there 
are thousands of barren Vines, (called male Vines) 
growing in the woods, which may form good stocks 
to graft upon. It is better to procure cuttings of 
well known Vines, than to lose time and labor with 
producing from seeds. A seedling Vine will show 
blossoms in its fourth or fifth year. 

It is unnecessary to detail the mode of procuring 
Vines from seeds, as the process is simple and well 
known. It is mostly done by the aid of pots in 
hot-houses and green-houses ; but the native va- 
rieties may be raised from seed in the open air. 

By Buds. — Take single joints of the Vine and 
cut them at half the distance from the next bud each 
way — dip each end in a warm mixture of about 



PROPAGATION. 21 

two parts of rosin and one part of beeswax — put 
them about an inch deep and about ten inches apart 
in mellow earth, somewhat moist, — strew some 
horse-dung over the rows, and if the weather should 
i)e dry give them occasionally a watering. 

In the 3d volume of the Memoris of the Phila* 
delphia Society for promoting Agriculture, Mr. 
Matiack, giving an account of a speedy mode of 
propagating the Vine, says — " Take a single joint 
of the Vine you choose, cut it off at half an inch 
above the eye — cover each end with a sticking 
plaster of any kind, and set it in a pot of garden 
mould — the eye of the cutting must be covered 
with garden earth and then watered to setde the 
ground. After this lay half an inch of horse-dung 
on the surface to keep it from becoming dry and 
hard — place the pot in yaur hot-bed, &c." 

Loudon's London Magazine states that Mr. Pil- 
laus '' takes an eye from a Vine in the month of 
March, and from it produces in the following April 
or May twelve month, a handsome plant, bearing 
bunches of ripe fruit. The correspondent saw 
several pots with such buds in various stages of 
progress. The process is not explained. 

By Cuttings. — Any well ripened wood of the 
last years growth is good for a cutting, but the 
nearer it is to the old wood the more likely it will 
be to succeed, and even if a small piece of the old 
wood remains it will be all the better. A cutting 
should embrace three or more buds, and should be 
taken from the plant before the circulation of the 
sap commences, and be from six to twelve inches 
in length. They are taken from the Vines at the 
pruning in March (or may be taken at any time 
between the first of November and first of April) 
and cut to their proper dimensions in the following 



22 PROPAGATION. 

manner. About an inch of wood is left above the 
upper bud and is (afterwards when set in the 
ground) cut sloping at the back side from the bud 
in order that it may be protected. They are then 
buried in the earth, or kept in a cellar until wanted 
for setting out. They are first set in a garden or 
well protected ground, and at a distance of six to 
twelve inches apart in rows which may be a foot 
or more apart. At the lower end, which goes in 
the ground, the wood is cut as near to the bud as it 
can be without injury. They are set in the ground 
so deep as that the topmost bud shall just come to 
the top of the ground, so as to receive the benefit of 
of earth and air, as this is the only bud which 
shoots above ground — the others going to the forma- 
tion of roots (Fig. Ij p. 36.) If the season should 
be dry they will require Avatering several times, 
I consider a shady place, a spot but little exposed 
to the sun, as being preferable for cuttings. Some- 
times they are put endwise in a pot or box and 
filled in with earth and watered. In t?iis manner 
a great number may be put in a small space for 
transportation. I once successfully seni cuttmgs 
from New York to Little Rock, in Arkansas, by 
way of New Orleans. These were placed in sods 
of grassy earth, a little moistened. 

The cutting will in the first year throw up a 
shoot from the top bud. If two should come forth 
the weakest must be taken away, and if none 
should come it is not certain that the cutting. is 
dead, as it will sometimes throw out a shoot 
under the ground and push its way to the surface 
in the next season. If the cutting throws out a 
strong shoot the first season, you may, at the March 
pruning, cut it down to two buds from the main 
stock, (Fig. 2, p. 37) or if a weak shoot cut it to one 



PROPAGATION. 23 

bud. The young Vine is sometimes transplanted 
to its permanent place at or about this time, but I 
would not recommend it until the third year from 
the cutting. 

In the introduction into Switzerland of Vines 
from abroad it was frequently found that the plants 
of foreign cuttings have refused (though arrived at 
the proper age, and possessing a vigorous maturity) 
to unfold a solitary flower. Cuttings from such 
plants have been tried, which have blossomed, and 
the flowering been succeeded by abortion. From 
the plants of succeeding cuttings other cuttings 
have been cultivated, following up the system for 
several seasons, till in the end a complete success 
has crowned the experiment; and it has been 
proved that the process of acclimating the stranger 
plant has not reached its full accomplishment until 
it has passed through four^ and sometimes five 
generations of the Vine. 

By Layers.—Y'mes are also propagated by layers 
which consists in bending down a branch, while 
attached to a stock, into a channel dug in the earth, 
and burying it at a proper depth in a curving line 
with the end having two buds above the earth, and 
strongly p>egged to its place, so as not to lift by its 
own elasticity. Roots will start plentifully from 
the part in the earth, and when it is well rooted it 
may be cut horn the parent Vine and transplanted. 

When a Vine becomes old or injured we some- 
times make layers to continue it, and therefore do 
not cut it from the main stock. This is a good 
mode, and is much practiced in France to supply 
vacancies in vineyards. 

By Graftino; — In the spring of 1832 I grafted 
thirteen wild Grape Vines on my ground, and they 
soon grew to a considerable length. In the fall of 



24 PROPAGATIOX. 

that year I observed the wood did not ripen, and 
during the winter they all perished. By reason of 
its being in an unhealthy location I abandoned my 
vineyard, and did not renew the experiment. My 
mode was to cut the stock below the surface of the 
earth, and make a clean split or cleft, fitting the 
scion as a long wedge merely into the wood, and 
making the bark, on one side of it to match, where 
it would fit. I then packed the rich mould around 
it. Another mode is to bore holes with a gimlet 
or a bit, and fit the graft with a shoulder to the 
square stock. Other modes are practiced, and any 
skilful hand would probably be successful. 

The great difiiculty in grafting is the liability of 
the stock to bleed so profusely that the graft can- 
not unite with the stock. This induces some 
gardeners to delay the operation until the blossoms 
begin to show out ; but as in the latitude of New 
York the sap begins to rise in February, that is the 
best time to graft. If not performed in February 
it should be delayed till the second week in May. 
The grafts or scions should be cut a month before 
wanted for use, in order to keep them back, and 
not to be as forward as the stock ; particularly if 
to be done at the latter period, the lower end of 
them should be rapped in moss a little damp, or 
stuck in a potato. The modes of grafting are well 
known, but the Vine is more difficult to graft than 
common trees. 

In cleft grafting the scion should be as near as 
possible the size of the Vine, so that the bark may 
fit. If the stock is too high a flower pot or box 
may be filled with earth and the stock thus cover- 
ed. Grafts thus fitted sometimes bear the first year. 

A correspondent of the N. Y. Farmer says — 
^^ At New Orleans I saw a very fine muscadel 



PROPAGATION. 25 

Vine in the garden of a horticulturist in the upper 
Fauxburgh, which was grafted, as he told me, on 
a native stock ; while one which stood immediately 
contiguous, but which had not been grafted, was 
unthrifty and insignificant in appearance, and bore 
comparatively no fruit at all. They were both 
planted at the same time, and were then sixteen 
years old, so that the experiment in that instance 
was completely decisive, that unless grafted on 
native stocks they will not succeed." 

Mr. S. Weller, of Berkleyville, N. C, succeeded 
in grafting a variety of scions from Pennsylvania, 
on the Fox Grape and other native stocks of his 
neighborhood, and thus obtained a variety of good 
sorts. 

I have known grafting by approach^ as it is 
called, to be successful. It consists in bringing the 
branches of two Vines of different kinds together, 
just as the sap begins to ascend, and cutting each 
branch at the side so that they may unite and the 
sap of each mtermingle. Both will probably 
grow, and the preferable one may be cut from the 
parent stock. 

Many operators do not succeed well in grafting ; 
but as it is essential, we would indulcate the most 
careful experiments in this matter. Mr. Herbe- 
mont says : — 

" The mode of grafting which I practise usually, and 
which is attended with no difficulty, and very seldom 
fails, is as follows : If the Vine I wish to graft in is in the 
place I desire to have it, all I do is to take away the 
earth round it, to the depth of four or five inches, saw it 
off for cut it off* with a sharp knife, accordinj^ to its size,j 
about two or three inches below the surface of the ground. 
(This depth may be regulated by the length of the scion 
used.) Split it with a knife or chisel ; and having tapered 



26. PfiOPAGATION. 

the lower end of the scion in the shape of a wedge, insert 
it in the cleft stock, so as to make the bark of both 
coincide, (which is perhaps not necessary with the Vinej 
— tie it with any kind of string, merely to keep the scion 
in its place ; return the earth to its place, so as to leave 
only one bud of the graft above the ground, and the other 
just below the surface, and it is done. If I have no Vine 
w^here I wish to have one, I dig it out of the woods, &c. 
&c. ; cut it off as above described ; insert the scion ; tie 
it and plant it where wanted, leaving, as in the other case, 
only one bud or two above the ground. All the care that 
it now requires is to surround it with sticks, to prevent 
its being trampled upon or otherwise injured, and to notice 
the shoots that may grow below the graft, that they may 
be immediately taken off close to the stock, taking care, 
in so doing, not to move the scion or graft, which might 
prevent its taking. Such grafts usually grow as soon as 
the other buds of the Vine ^in the neighborhood ; but it 
sometimes happens they are much later ; and 1 have had 
some that did not push till about June — even as late as 
the middle of that month. 

When the stock, or the Vine into which you wish to 
insert a graft, is too large to be conveniently split, as in 
the last mode of grafting, as when they are several inches 
in diameter, after having sawed it two or three inches 
below the surface of the ground, nearly horizontally, I 
take a gimlet, or (which is best) a carpenter's stock and 
taper-bit, and bore one or more holes, according to the 
size of the stock, about an inch and a quarter deep. I 
then prepare the scion, (which in this case ought to be 
selected pretty large,) and by cutting the bark and a little 
of the wood all round, within an inch and a quarter of the 
lower end, fit it to the hole, and push it in till the shoulder 
of bark, made by the cutting, as here above described, 
comes down to the sawed surface of the stock ; and if the 
stock is large enough to require two or three grafts, after 
having fitted them all in, I return the earth, leaving only 
one or two buds at most above ground, as above, and the 
grafting is done. As this last method of grafting usually 



PROPAGATION. 27 

succeeds as well as the first, it would seem to indicate 
that it is not necessary in grafting the Vine, as it most 
undoubtedly is for all other fruit trees, that the bark of 
the stock, and that of the scion or graft, meet and coin- 
cide exactly ; for, in the latter case, the scions are inserted 
in any part of the stock. 

All that remains now to be attended to is, as to the 
best season for grafting the Vine, and the best manner of 
keeping the scions until that time. I have generally suc- 
ceeded best when I have grafted late in the spring, and 
just before the buds of the Vine burst into leaves ; that 
is, when the sap is flowing pretty freely. It is, however, 
a matter of some importance that the scions should have 
been kept back, if possible, so that their buds are onlj 
beginning to swell, and this must regulate the time of 
craftino-. The scions may be kept back, and their vege- 
tation retarded, by burying them in as cold a place as caii 
conveniently be found — such as the north side of a hill, 
of a house, fence, &c. ; in short, where the ice and snow 
remain the longest. A small trench, a few inches deep, 
is made — the scions laid flat down in the bottom, and 
entirely covered. I think a better way still, fone, how- 
ever, which I never had an opportunity of trying, j would 
be to put them in a box of sand somewhat moistened, and 
deposite the box m an ice-house. The scion? being thus 
kept back, may be used for grafting with complete suc- 
cess, so late as when the Vine for the stock is in full 
leaves. I have thus grafted Vines sent me by mail from 
the north as late as June, and they grew well. I should 
always prefer, however, to do it earlier, when it can 
conveniently be done.'' 

Berneaiid says, '^ there are several kinds of graft- 
ing used for Vines. Shoulder grafting succeeds 
well on old stocks — so does budding, or insertion — 
but the most common are slit-grafting and tongue- 
grafting. Latterly escutcheon-grafting has been 
much used in spring before the ascent of the sap. 



28 PROPAGATION. 

Grafting by a.pproach also will succeed, but the 
most favorable of all methods is crown grafting on 
the root." 

Vines in Pots. — In England, where Grapes can 
only be cultivated in hot-houses, some of their best 
gardeners force their Vines in pots in the following 
manner. They take a cutting of young wood of 
three, lour or five feet in length, and coil it in a 
large pot, rubbing off all the buds but two, and 
leaving those buds at or near the surface, the 
weakest of which is afterwards rubbed off. It is 
then placed in a hot-bed, and soon puts forth and 
fills the pot with roots* It may be re-potted and 
extended according to circumstances. By putting 
the pot containing the Vine within another, and 
filling the space between them with soil, a uniform 
moisture may be preserved. In our country the 
gardeners and ladies who cherish house plants, may 
in this way obtain fine foreign Grapes. 

'' Any one who is anxious to have Vines in pots 
with Grapes fully grown should, at the time of 
pruning, take the stem through a hole in the bottom 
of the pot, and lay the rest of the Vine from the 
bottom of the pot in the ground. For such pur- 
poses I take the old shoots that are to be cut out 
that season. For the pots I use the same compost 
as for the border. I always keep rotted dung about 
the pots, as it makes the Vines strike much sooner 
than keeping the pots dry. I have had twenty- 
six good branches in pots, and could have had 
more but for thining. When the fruit is at maturity 
I cut the old branch by the bottom of the pot, and 
remove the plant at pleasure for ornament." 

Another Mode. — In the spring, before the buds 
swell, take a healthy, well ripened Vine, and draw 
it through the hole of a large flower pot — fill in 



PRUNING, &C. 29 

earth, and cover the pot with moss or coarse 
manure on the outside, to keep in the moisture. 
About the last of August cut the shoot half off ^l 
the bottom of the pot. In October cut the branch 
entirely off, and carry the pot with its load of ripe 
Grapes to any proper place. With proper treat- 
ment the fruit will hang on till February. 



OF PRUNING AND TRAINING. 

The Isabella Vines are sometimes so extremely 
exuberant in their growth and foliage, that it is not 
easy to prescribe rules for pruning and training, 
which will suit all cases. As they are much cul- 
tivated in gardens — in hot-houses — o^^er arbors and 
trellises, and often in the espalier form, I shall give 
some general remarks which may enable those 
who cultivate but two or three Vines, to do their 
own trlmining ; as it is sometimes inconvenient or 
impossible to procure a professor to trim your 
Vines — such persons being in great demand at the 
trimming season. 

After your Vine is transplanted to the spot where 
it IS to remain, you are to train it according to the 
space which you wish it to cover. I would advise, 
if the arbor, trellis, fence, or house will allow it, 
that it be tramed about a foot from the ground, in 
iwo shoots or branches, forking each way from the 
main upright stock. It is thus within reach for a 
time ; but you will soon require ladders to trim the 
Vine and gather the fruit. 

Let it be particularly observed that X^^ the fruit 

always groins on the shoots of the present season, 

ffhicli spring from itmod of the i^ast season. This 

ib> very important to be known and critically 

3 



30 PRUNING, &C. 

observed by every person who attempts to prune 
a Vine. The appearance of the wood will readily 
indicate its age and quahty, and a little observation 
may make any discreet person a good trimmer. 

First Prunitig. — The first or irAnter pruning, as 
it is called, takes place in March, although it may 
be done from the first of November to the first of 
March, if the Vines are not frozen. I prefer the 
early part of March. It consists in cutting out 
dead wood — shortening the runners — and training 
and tying to the supporters. If your Vine is under 
five years old, you would do well to follow the 
rules herein laid down ; but if it is older you must 
exercise a judgment founded on the extent of your 
supports — the strength of the root, and the feed or 
manure afforded to it. You will see, at Fig. 6, p. 46, 
the mode of trimming and training as practiced in 
vineyards, which may readily be adapted to other 
situations. A Vine may well be allowed to bear 
eight runners, trained horizontally or vertically, 
according to the taste of the cultivator, or to the 
situation of his supporters. Of these four may, at 
the winter pruning, be shortened down to a single 
bud, and the four others intermediate be trained 
vertically, in a serpentine form, so high as to give 
the mnnber of buds to which you will limit your 
Vine. The long branches will bear fruit the pre- 
sent year — throwing out a shoot at every bud, and 
every shoot bearing three or more clusters. These 
will be cut down to a single bud at the next winter 
pruning. The intermediate four buds or spurs 
will each send forth one shoot, which must be 
trained vertically, in a serpentine form, between 
the bearing branches on the trellis. These are 
intended to make bearing wood for the next year, 
and must not be allowed to bear fruit except at 



PRUNING, &C. 31 

every alternate season. In this mode the Vine 
may be perpetuated, and kept within a reasonable 
compass ; but if some such rule is not adopted your 
Vine will grow beyond your reach, and bear fruit 
only at the extremities — leaving an unsightly mass 
of large old branches near the ground. In this 
comitry, where Vines if neglected will sometimes 
cover an acre of ground, and become dead or worth- 
less, in a few years, it is necessary to look to its 
perpetuity by good cultivation and keeping it in 
proper compass. It is proper in the spring of the 
year to strip off the ragged bark and moss which 
gathers around the trunk, which will otherwise 
become a harbor for insects and have a bad ap- 
pearance. Washing with soap suds gives the trunk 
a clean and healthy aspect. 

At this pruning the branches should be well 
fastened to the supports, particularly at the ex- 
tremities, tStrips of bass-wood matting are good 
for the purpose. 

When Vines from any cause are trimmed as late 
as April or May, they will discharge much sap — or 
^' bleed," as it is called. Some consider this as very 
injurious to the Vine, but 1 think the disadvantage 
is much over-rated. If it i^ thought necessary to 
stop the bleeding, a little fine plaster of Paris may 
be applied with the fingers to the place cut, or a 
little gardener's wax. 

A potato stuck upon the end of a bleeding Vine 
will often stop the running. 

Second Pruning.' — From the 1st to the 10th of 
May (according to the season) the buds are putting 
forth into leaf and generally two or three branches 
at every bud or joint. They then require the 
second pruning — the first having taken place in 
March. I then rub off the superfluous buds, leaving 



S2 PRUNING, &C. 

but one shoot to each bud. This process I call 
'^ budding," and it is essential to get good fruit and 
strong wood on the remaining shoots, and prevent 
the future crowding and entangling of the shoots. 
They are disengaged with a slight touch, and a 
short time will suffice for many Vines. 

Young Vines are often tied to a single pole or 
stake until three or four years old ; but good care 
must be taken that they have this second pruning, 
or they will suffer greatly by the neglect. 

If old Vines are neglected at this budding, as they 
generally are, you will have a tangled knot of 
branches at every fruit-bud — radiating from one 
point — and your vine will soon get into inextrica- 
ble confusion, If not afterwards taken out, you 
will have numerous shoots and many clusters of 
very poor fruit ; and at the March pruning all the 
tangled wood must be taken away. 

Third Pnimng. — The third pruning takes place 
about the middle of June, after the vine has passed 
the flowering, and must be done with great care, 
and as little agitation of the vine as possible. — At 
this time I cut off with shears or scissors, or pinch 
off with finger and thumb, the lafera/s^ which spring 
out of the green shoot on the side o})posiie to the 
fruit. — They may be taken off at any time during 
the season, but not quite down to the shoot. It is 
best to do it at the proper time, before they have 
acquired size and strength, at the expense of the 
resi of the vine. If the tendrils or claspers are not 
required to support the vine, they may be clipped 
off also. 

After the berries are set good cultivators take off 
branches of the fruit, to prevent the over-cropping 
of the vine. Every fruit-bearing shoot is thus re- 
duced to the number of clusters which it is re- 



PRUNING, &C. * 33 

quired to ripen. This is essential when the finest 
table grapes are wanted, but not so wiiere wine is 
made, unless it is considered neccssarjr to perpe- 
tuate the vine, and prevent its redundance. Few 
persons have courage to prune the vine to the 
great extent whicii experienced vignerons deem 
necessary; but if they will make experiments, and 
institute comparisons, I am persuaded the perma- 
nent advantages will be in favor of close pruning, 
and keeping the vine to its smallest dimensions. If 
it is from any cause omitted, the leading shoots run 
beyond reach, and fruit will grow at the extremi- 
ties, and a long and snake-like trunk will display- 
its ragged and unsightly appearance on your 
trellis. 

In vine growing countries^ so particular are the 
proprietors to have their vines closely pruned, and 
not over-cropped, that, where a vinej'ard is leased, 
it is customary to insert an obligation limiting the 
lessee to the particular number of buds or branches 
\vhich he may allow on each vine. 

I formerly practiced a Fourth Pruning, called 
stopping, or sliortening^ as recommended by Mr. 
Cobbett and others. It was done about the middle 
of July, when the fruit had obtained about half 
its growth. I then shortened all the branches 
having fruit on (except those retained for perma- 
nent runners) by cutting them at two or three 
joints forward of the fruit.^— This was considered 
important to the developement and ripening of the 
fruit, by the removal of green wood and leaves ; 
but subsequent experience has led me to doubt the 
propriety of this pruning for the Isabellas, as the 
vine is sure to send out new leaves, and sometimes 
untimely fruit, if it is improperly pruned either by 
design or accident. — I think best, therefore, to let 



34 PRUNING, &C. 

the sap expend itself in giving length to the shoot, 
which will be taken off' at the lollowing March 
pruning. T would particularly caution all persons 
against taking off' the leaves, which are called ** the 
lungs of the plant," and are vitally essential to the 
ripening of the fruit. The best fruit is always m 
the deepest shade, and if by any chance it beconnes 
exposed to the sun, it is injured thereby, and be- 
comes inferior and sour. 

In Mr. Colman's late tour in England, he quotes 
from a practical gardener some directions for the 
management of vines as follows • — " With regard 
to the management of the vine when fruiting, I in- 
variably stop the shoot one eye above the bunch 
and it is the practice of the best gardeners in Eng- 
land. I generally leave one shoot not stopped with- 
out fruit, and to fruit next season, and cut the shoots 
out that have borne fruit this year. On the shoot- 
spur system every shoot is stopped an eye above 
the bunch, except the top one, and then it must be 
managed like the rest ; all the lateral shoots must 
be stopped an eye above another until they cease 
growing, as the more leaves you get, the fruit swell 
larger." 

Mr. Prince of Flushing, in the preface to his 
recent nursery catalogue, says — " In regard to 
pruning, the American varieties simply require 
such thinning out during the winter as is necessary 
to prevent the branches injuring each other by 
contact, and the removal of such weak spurs. as 
are immature and imperfect ; but no fear should 
be indulged that the vine, if in good soil, is not 
capable of maturing its fruit on any extent of 
branches it may naturally produce — as, among the 
most productive vines found in Carolina there are 
many instances where a single vine covers an acre. 



PRUNING, &C. 35 

Summer pruning is only called for in locations 
where the vines are confined to too narrow limits, 
and then but very partially, as any considerable 
pruning will cause the fruit to turn black and fall 
off, and even cutting off the leaves will prevent 
the maturity of the fruit, as they are the conduc- 
tors of the essential nutriment from the atmosphere 
to the fruit, and to the Vv^hole plant. The foreign 
varieties being natives of a much milder chmate 
require considerable pruning, and but a moderate 
proportion of the vigorous shoots should be allow- 
ed to remain, it being necessary in this case to 
substitute skill and artificial culture, in order to 
remedy the inappropriaieness of climate. The 
most delicate foreign varieties do not succeed in 
this latitude except under glass ; but in that way 
they ripen well, and are exceedingly productive." 

I should infer from this, that Mr. Prince had 
changed his mind, respecting the pruning of Amer- 
ican vines, since the publication of his book in 
1830. — His experience corresponds well with 
others, as the very great exuberance of our na- 
tive vines will not admit of the close pruning given 
to all foreign vines. 

Italian Trainins^. — In some parts of Italy the 
vines are planted in rows about twenty feet apart, 
and the plants in the row at the distance of six 
feet from each other. Inst< ad of being, as in Swit- 
zerland, cut down to the height of four feet, they 
are suflfered to shoot forth their branches to the 
extent to which nature limits them, and the fruit 
may be in ripening clusters, frequently twenty 
feet from the ground. The support is the Mulber- 
ry tree, the branches of which are reduced to the 
length of five or six feet from the trunk at the 
point of diverging, the inner shoots being so cut as 



36 



PRUNING, &C. 



to form a frame, resembling in shape the cone of a 
wine glass. 

Scaffolding. — Mr. Weller, of Brinkleyville, N. 
C, speaks of scaffolding his vines to gives free pas- 
sage to carts; and considers hogs beneficial in a 
vineyard, to keep down grass and weeds. — His 
scuppernong vines are 30 feet apart, and all other 
vines 10 feet each way. — Posts 10 feet apart to 
support the scaffolding. 

Takinfr off Leaves in the Fall — " It is an axiom 
of Mr. Knight, that all vegetables which require 
to be left in a state of inactivity during winter, 
vegetate sooner in the spring, if that state of inac- 
tivity is brought on in autumn. Salisbury cites a 
case which strongly verifies this rule in regard to 
the grape. A vine of the Munier, in Yorkshire, 
bore 1000 to 2000 bunches of fruit annually, not 
twenty of which were ripened in a season, under 
ordinary management. The vine was pruned and 
stripped of its leaves on the 20th of September, 
seven years in succession, after which it ripened 
half a crop in ordinary, and a whole crop in warm 
weather." 



Fig. 1. 




The first year you have the 
cutting only, with one bud at the 
surface of the ground and two 
below. — The top is cut sloping 
from the bud, that water may 
not run upon the bud and in- 
jure it. (See Fig. 1.) 



PRUNING, &C. 



37 




The second year 7011 will have one 
strong shoot of many buds. In 
March yoii cut off all but the two 
lower or best buds, and suffer them 
to grow long and strong, for your 
main branches, to be afterwards 
trained horizontally, if such is the 
plan of your arbor or supports.-— 

(See Fig. 2.) 




The third year 
you trim it in March, 
in the forked or 
branching form, and 
may leave four or 
six buds, two of 



which may be allowed to bear fruit. (See Fig. 3.) 



Fig. 4. 

The foiirfh year you 
may train four shoots 
vertically from your 
main horizontal bran- 
ch s, and may have a 
dozen clusters of fruit. 
— The intermediate 
shoots must be train- 
ed for next year's bearers, and the fruit rubied off 
to give strength to the shoot. (See Fig. 4.) 

The Jlf/h year the vertical branches are to be 
trained to proper dist nces, having a bud on the 
horizontal branch between each, to be trained 




38 



PRUNING, &C. 



without fruit as a next year's bearers. When the 
main branch reaches the extent of the trellis it may 
be turned upward, vertically. (See Fig. 5.) 

Fig. 5. 




After the fifth year the vine may be trained to 
a proper economy of the trellis or supporters, and 
with regard to access for pruning and gathering, 
or shade where it is desirable — training some and 
pruning others, so that all parts of the trellis be 
properly covered — sometimes encouraging, or al- 
lowing to remain, a new shoot on account of its 
position, and at other times taking out old wood, 
to give place to more sightly or better shoots. Re- 
gard will be had to beauty of appearance and sym- 
metry, which are generally in accordance with 
the productiveness and perpetuity of the vine. 



PLANTING AND TRANSPLANTING. 

We have described the mode of propagating the 
vine, but as the planting or transplanting is a mat- 
ter of importance to its future growth, much care, 
must be taken in that branch of culture. 

Although the vine will live, if transplanted in a 



PLANTING, &C. 39 

proper manner, any season wlien the earth is not 
frozen, yd many good reasons might be given why 
the jail is the best for that purpose. The roots 
will become settled, and the moisture of the earth 
and the alternations of the weather will probably 
start them, or prepare them for an early start in 
the spring, and thus much time will be saved. — 
The ground should be well ploughed or dug up, 
and a hole made about two feet deep, and large 
enough to admit all the roots without crowding. 
Some good black, top soil from the border must be 
put in the bottom of the hole, but ?io manure of 
any kind, as its heating and fermenting qualities 
would injure, if not destroy the plant. Set the 
roots on the top of the dark mould and throw the 
earth in loosely, breaking the lumps— pull the stock 
up a little and shake it, that the earth may get 
among the small roots. Fill in the earth to within 
three or four inches of the surrounding ground, 
and pour a few quarts of water therein, enough to 
penetrate to the root. The ground should remain 
depressed around the stock. — It should immediate- 
ly be staked, or supported, to prevent the wind 
from straining it. 

In cultivated ground, vines may be planted 40 
or 50 feet apart, as apple trees are in an orchard. 
In these cases they should be trained long and suf- 
fered to lay upon a high platform, made of poles 
on crotches In this manner they may be raised 
out ofthe way of cattle or of thieves, and be made 
a delicious shade for man and animals. 



MANURING THE VINE. 

Although the vine will flourish on poor, dry, and 
sandy soils, yet it nevertheless, after a few years 



40 MANUKING. &C. 

exhausts the soil around it, and requires manure. 
But it must be given with much prudence and not 
in excess. Liquid manures are to be preferred, 
and stable manures avoided. — Leaves of all sorts, 
and peat or swamp earth is desirable. Bones and 
animal manures from slaughter houses are much 
used, as also lime and gypsum. Soap suds, soot, 
poudrett, ashes, of all kinds, street and road ma- 
nure — all are good for the grape, and every family 
makes enough for several vines. Fish and sea 
v^eed are also much used in France, but the latter 
is said to give a peculiar taste to the wine. — New 
earth must be applied when the vines are on a side 
hill, to replace that which washes away. — If the 
vines become yellow, it is an indication of weak- 
ness in the root, and that manure is required. It 
is best applied in the fall, or early in the spring. 
Guano in a liquid state, and sparingly, is good. 



FORCING GRAPES IN HOT HOUSES. 

Mr. JuUus W. Paulsen, who was in 1838 a 
Gardener with Joseph A. Perry, Esq., of Brook- 
lyn, N. Y., translated from a German newspaper, 
and gave to the public a most interesting and im- 
portant article on the culture of the grape vine, 
published by the Horticultural Society of Ham- 
burgh. Mr. Paulsen remarks : — 

"The advantages of this new system over any other, 
until now known practice, consists chiefly in the follow- 
ing : 

1. It produces ripe fruit in the middle of the winter, 
when any kind of fruit is always most acceptable and es- 
teemed. 

2. It requires after the first year no more expense than 
common graperies, where they have ripe fruit in the 
months of May, June or July. 



FORCING GRAPES IN HOT-HOUSES. 41 

3. It does not, like other forcings, weaken the constitu- 
tion of the vines. 

The last advantage is the grtatest of ally as you only 
change the season of vegetation — and/observe, so soon as 
you acquire this important article exactly, by givino- them 
spring, summer, fall and winter, the grape-vine must 
thrive as thriftily, and bear as abundantly, as in its open 
native soil. 

The public will excuse me, if I take the liberty to re- 
mark, that it will be impossible to expect any advantage 
from this new system, or any other kind of forcing grapes, 
if they want to raise Green or Hot-house plants with the 
grapes. They will never obtain Haifa crop^ and be only 
disappointed.''^ 

JSTew method of obtaining a very early crop of Grapes, in 
Forcing-houses. Published by J. ^. Ohlendorff^ Esq. 
President of the Horticultural Society and Director of 
the Botanical Garden at Hamburgh. 

TRANSLATED BY JULIUS W. PAULSEN. 

The Horticultural Society of Hamburgh., at a sitting in 
November, 1835, offered a premium of eight Hamburgh 
ducats, to be awarded in 1837, to that individual, who 
should succeed in producing the largest quantity of highly 
flavored grapes, not less than half a pound in weight, at a 
period not later in the season, than the loth March. 

Mr. H. Davis, superintendant of the forcing-houses of 
E. Steer, Esq., in Hamburgh, has succeeded by a new, 
and until now, unpractised management in ripening high- 
ly flavored grapes by the 14th of January. Mr. Steer 
having exhibited at the meeting of the Horticultural So- 
ciety three different kinds of grapes as samples, the So- 
ciety unanimously resolved, to award Mr. Davis the pre- 
mium of the eight Hamburgh ducats. Mr. Davis's 
method of procedure is quite novel to us, and will prove 
of the highest importance to those who desire to grow 
very early crops of grapes. While at Demerara and 
Trinidadj he observed with admiration the judicious 

4 



42 FORCING GRAPES IN HOT-HOUSES. 

management of the inhabitants, by which they have a 
continuous crop of ripe grapes throughout the year. For 
that purpose they make choice of a border planted with 
strong three year old vines, of the following late bearing 
kinds ; black Alicant, Chasselas rouge, and blue Franken- 
thala. If the owner of such a border wishes to have ripe, 
grapes in January, he sews up the vines in a coarse, loose 
linen canvass, lays them down, and covers them closely 
with wooden shutters. These shutters must be covered 
with about two feet of earth, and then an extra covering 
of leaves over the whole, sufficient to prevent any influ- 
ence of the sun. 

Although, in the experiment made by Mr. Davis, the 
vines employed were but one year old, he still succeeded, 
perfectly, in raising a crop of ripe grapes by the middle of 
January. The forcing-house was heated by steam, and 
Mr. Davis suggests, that in vineries heated by flues, the 
vines should be well syringed in a temperature of 16'^ — 
ll"" Reaumur. The Society are gratified to have called 
forth, through the means of the premium awarded to Mr. 
Davis, this ingenious method, practised in tropical Amer- 
ica. Although Mr. Arkwright exhibited before the Hor- 
ticultural Society of London, twenty -five years ago, 
sjrapes ripened in January, yet his method required at 
least three years preparation for the late ripening varie- 
ties. Mr. Arkwright's method appears to have consisted 
in the use of pine-houses and vineries, adapted to pro- 
duce a later display of their leaves ; but this method, 
if a successful one, was not sufficiently made known in 
its details, to be of any public advantage. In Mr. Davis's 
method, vines are selected which have never produced 
fruit, and they are retarded by a double repose, from 
their usual growth, in order that they may push at a late 
period with the more vigor. 

It is a well known fact in vegetable physiology, and 
one which must be observed in all early forcings, that 
there is a period of vegetation in summer, and one of re- 
pose in winter, in all plants. All vegetables produce, with 
few exceptions, their blossoms and fruits once in the year. 



FORCING GRAPES IN HOT-HOUSES. 43 

and then return to a state of repose, in order to collect 
new vigor for the new vegetatiorj. In the same way the 
grape vine will long produce fruit annually, though at 
different seasons, if the period of repose be changed and 
effectually carried out ; rest being a leading rule, without 
which no plant can produce good fruit. To attain this, 
the vines, after they have been planted one, two or three 
years in a prepared house, nnust be forced as early as pos- 
sible in a temperature of lb" to l?** Reaumur, so as to 
obtain healthy and vigorous shoots, which must be al- 
lowed to !)ear no fruit or lateral branches. In this way 
strong vines, and of a necessary length, will be obtained. 
By the end of March these vines will have grown so 
much, that the wood will be prepared for ripening in the 
eionth of April, which must be etfwcted by a decline of 
temperature to 8'^ — 10° Reaumur. In the beginning of 
May the vines must be taken down, and, after having 
lain fourteen days, they must be sewed op in coarse can- 
vass, covered with shutters, and the shutters wath earth 
and leaves. There they must remain until the end of 
July. In August begin to air them by degrees, and in 
the month of September the covers should be taken off, 
the vines trimmed and tied up. The forcing should now 
commence, giving the vines a moist atmosphere, and a 
temperature of Id"" — 18° Reaumur, until the fruit is ripe. 
The season of the vines is then changed, and by the 
same attention to the time of repose, they will bear as 
readily and abundantlv in winter as at any other season. 
J. A. OHLENDORFF, 
President of the Horticultural Society and Director 
of the Botanical Garden at Hamburgh. 



INSECTS, BLIGHT, ROTTING, c^-c. 

About the Sth of June, while the vine is in 
tlower, and throwing its peculiar and delicious 
perfume around, its great enemy, the rose-bii^, 
makes its appearance and feeds with voracity on 



44 INSECTS, BLIGHT, ROTTING. 

the sweet and delicate blossom. In a few days 
after their first appearance thousands are seen car- 
rying destruction throughout the vineyard. The 
best remedy I could ever devise, is to go among 
the vines early in the morning, before the sun has 
warmed them into activity, and they are then easily 
made to fall into the hand or on the ground, and 
may be crushed and destroyed. If rose bushes are 
near they will prefer to rest on them. A fev/ 
mornings spent in this way will clear a vineyard. 
They are a short lived enemy. 

I have observed in the city, that spiders and cater- 
pillars are in some degree destructive to the green 
fruit. Spiders will get to the centre of the cluster 
and cause the fruit to fall in single grapes. The 
caterpillar attacks the stem, and the whole green 
cluster falls to the ground. 

In cities, rats will sometimes come in droves in 
the night and destroy the ripe fruit — dogs and poul- 
try will also eat them if they are allowed to get at 
them. 

In the latter part of July the blight or rot, takes 
place where vines are cultivated in fields, but it is 
seldom seen in cities. Great quantities of fruit will 
become brown and sometimes black and fall off. 
It is seen as much on the high as the low vines, 
and no less on fruit exposed to the sun, than in the 
shade. Some have ascribed this to the operation of 
the sun shining through drops of dew on the leaves, 
and operating as a lens. I have supposed it 
the result of bad trimming, or want of sufficient 
trimming; and that the exuberance of the vine, 
like the apple and peach tree, might thus disbur- 
den itself of a portion of its fruits. — As an experi- 
ment I discharged on the vines with a syringe 
soap suds, to which had been added lime and sul- 
phur. I feared I should lose all my grapes, but to 



INSECTS, BLIGHT, HOTTING. 45 

my surprise I had a good crop notwithstanding, 
and the remaining fruit was much better for this 
natural pruning. 

Small worms will sometimes appear in a dense 
cluster in the under part of the leaf, and sometimes 
a large worm two or three inches long, like those 
on the vines and leaves of the potato and the to- 
mato. These must be sought out and destroyed. 

A writer in the Southern Agriculturist as a re- 
medy for the rotting of the grapes, has practiced 
very high culture with success, on dry and un- 
shaded arbors. — He observes that his vines pro- 
duce more and better grapes thus trained, and they 
are of a convenient heigh th and width to drive a 
wagon under ; and they are also out of the way 
of pilferers, unless they carry a ladder with them. 

Mr. Clark, in the Southern Agriculturist, advises 
deep planting of the vine, and ascribes the rot or 
mildew to great rain after a drought, when the top* 
roots receive rain to repletion. The vine has a 
propensity to form a tap root which protects it 
from the extremes of moisture and dryness. To 
favor the formation of a tap root deep planting is 
requisite. Mr. C. gives an instance of a Swiss 
cultivator who planted his vines in a ditch or trench 
more than three feet in depth, and after they were 
of good growth filled near the surface with poor 
earth, to retard the surface roots. No rot or miU 
dew was ever known among his vines. 



VINEYARD CULTURE. 

When the vines a;'e three years old they may 
be set in a vineyard, and at the proper distance to 
be trained on the supporters. These will vary ac 
cording to the convenience or circumstances of the 
proprietor. In 1831, my vineyard of three hun- 
dred Isabella vines had become sufficiently large 



46 



VINEYARD CULTURE. 



to be permanently trained. The rows were eight 
feet apart, and vines eight feet in the rows. Com- 
mon posts eight feet long were put two feet in the 
ground and eight feet apart, having a vine mid-way 
between the posts. — My trellis was composed of 
lath or strips of sawed boards, nailed to the posts^ 
the lower lath being one foot from the ground, and 
three above — the upper one being quite at the top 
of the posts. The extraordinary growth of the 
Isabella vines soon rendered them crowded and 
tangled. — I trimmed the main branches along the 
lowest rail horizontally, and caused the branches 
about one foot apart to ascend vertically in a crook- 
ed or serpentine form to the top rail. — (See Fig. 6.) 

But I am diffident of giv- 
ing advice about training 
large and vigorous Isa- 
bella vines, in open rows 
- — they grow best and 
appear best trained on 
arched arbors eight or 
ten feet high. The 
weight of fruit and vine 
requires something to re5^ 



upon; and if tied to a 
trellis or railing, they 
will ascend above the 
railing and be thrashed 
about by the wind and 
broken. 

In March 1832, 1 sold 
ten thousand cuttings ol 
the Isabella Grape, to 
William Underbill, of 
Croton Point, near Sing, 
Sing, New York, who 
now has a flourishing 




VINEYARD CULTURE, 47 

vineyard there of seven acres, from which he sends 
his fruit to New York. His brother, Dr. R. T. 
Underhill, whose farm and vineyard adjoins, culti- 
vates twenty acres in the Isabella and Catawba 
grapes, which are sent to New York. As Dr. 
Underhill is a very intelligent and successful cuhi- 
vator, I shall notice him and his vineyard hereafter. 
— His vines are supported by posts from 6 to 12 
feet apart in the rows — the vines are distant about 
6 feet in the rows — The rows are mostly from 6 
to 8 feet apart. — The posts are about six feet 
above ground. The vines are trained on three 
ranges or trellises on wires, the lower one being 
about a foot from the ground, and the upper one 
quite at the top. He had no regular system at the 
time of planting his first vineyard ; but the public 
will hereafter be favored with the results of his 
experience. — The wire as also each end of the 
upright posts, had been immersed in coal tar, 
probably warm, as a preservation from rust or rot. 
The wires were wound around nails, driven into 
the posts within an inch of the head. This makes 
a very strong and durable support to the vines, and 
the appearance is neat and good. A system of 
very close pruning gives the vines plenty of sun 
and air, and thus the best fruit is obtained. 

I have in a few instances trained vines upon 
large apple trees, and they ran quite to the top, 
and the grapes were abundant among the apples ; 
but this mode is not to be recommended. The 
fruit was bad, and trimming quite impracticable. 
In the city of Brooklyn, among high buildings, with 
proper pruning, the Isabella Vines never fail to pro- 
duce abundantly eve?y scaso?i. — This is extraordi- 
nary and unlike fruit trees in general, and it may 
truly be said that this delightful vine every season 
" cheereth the heart of millions." 



48 AMERICAN GRAPES AND VINEYARDS. 

ChafigQ of earth at the roots. — It has been re- 
commended that on a fine day, as soon as the frost 
is out of the ground in the spring, the earth be re- 
moved from the roots of old vines and a solution 
of alum and clay be dissolved in water and poured 
upon the roots, and the earth changed about the 
roots. I do not mean to recommend these experi- 
ments ; but where old vines are from any cause 
declining, they may be benefitted. 

Supports and distances. — I think it will be found 
that the plan adopted by Mr. Bonsall, [see page 
52] and subsequently by Dr. Underbill, [see page 
47] of supporting vines on stout ivires, and on posts 
ten feet apart^ is the most economical. — Mr. B. 
uses wire No. 11, softened. — Dr. U. gives his wire 
a coating of coal tar. — One part of this economy 
is, that the tendrils of the vine in some measure 
work their own support around the wire. Three 
lines of wire are turned around nails driven in the 
posts — the lower line should be about a foot from 
the ground. Wire of No. 11 to 15 may be re- 
commended, which will cost from 88 to $9 per 100 
pounds. Each pound would probably measure 
from 20 to 24 feet. Black varnish would make a 
good coating for the wire. 



AMERICAN GRAPES AND VINEYARDS. 

Scuppernong Grape. — We place this as the very 
nrst of American grapes yet known. — Its produc- 
tiveness is almost beyond credibility, as will be 
seen, and its qualities for the table and for wine 
are esteemed very great. It is sometimes called 
the Hickman grape, after the man who first brought 
it from the Suppernong river into Newborn, North 
Carolina, from whence it soon acquired favor 
among the farmers and gardeners, in that vicinity. 



AMERICAN GRAPES AND VINEYARDS. 49 

Capt. William Barlingham, has cultivated four 
acres for eighteen years, and has wine of great age. 
A single vine has produced him a ton of fruit, and 
made eight barrels of wine of the best quality. It 
grows on sandy land, which is fit for nothing else, 
and the vine has proved good after sixteen years. 
The grape is of a white color, but there is an in- 
ferior grape called Scuppernong, which is of a pur> 
pie color. — It is dioecious, which is one reason for 
its not succeeding with those who do not procure 
the kindred vine. Mr. James Blount, of the Scup- 
pernong river, diffused a knowledge of this excel- 
lent grape in some well written papers, published 
in North Carolina. It is a singular fact that in N. 
Carolina the vines are never trimmed, and this fact 
may lead to interesting experiments to know what 
effect this practice, which is every where consider- 
ed very essential in vine culture, might have on 
this vine. 

In making Scuppernong wine, one sixth of its 
quantity of proof spirits is added. Sugar or water 
is said to spoil it. 

It is said to be very difficult, if not impossible, 
to propagate this vine by cuttings. It must be 
done by roots, or by layers, in the manner herein- 
described. 

Isabella Grape. — Next to the Scuppernong we 
may be allowed to rank the Isabella, which ap- 
pears to grow well in all parts of our extensive 
country, although probably in its greatest exceU 
lence on Long Island. The fruit is dark purple, of 
large size, fine down, and pleasant psrfume— the 
form oval — clusters loose and long, two seeds, pulp 
very juicy, with thin red crust, near the skin — the 
skin very thin. It is found to improve much with 
cultivation. — It is a very great bearer, and if al- 



50 AMERICAN GRAPES AND VINEYARDS. 

lowed, the vines will cover a large space. — Good 
for the table and for wine. — It is cultivated from 
Boston to Florida. It is dipolygmnous plant. 

Cataivba. — As third in rank, we would name 
the Catawba. This is one of the best native 
American grapes both for the table, and for wine. 
Berries of a pale red or lilac color — bunches large, 
with shoulders thick set — slight musty taste, and 
delicate davor — thin skin, and very little pulp. It 
grows well in the vicinity of New York, and is a 
good bearer. The late Mr. Adlum, regarded it as 
his best wine grape. It ripens the last of Septem- 
ber. Mr. Longworth, who is a distinguished culti- 
vator of grapes in Ohio, says — " The Catawba is 
superior as a wine and table grape to the Isabella, 
and matures its fruit better, though a less abundant 
bearer. We have native grapes in most of our 
states, could a selection be made, which would 
leave us little cause to regret that foreign grapes 
succeed so badly with us." 

Cape or Alexander Grape. — This is the grape 
much used in the Vevay, and other western vine- 
yards. 

No/ton^s Seedling. — Dr. Norton, of Virginia, 
obtained this grape from the seed of the Bland, 
fructified with pollen of the Meunier, or Miller's 
Burgundy. 

Native Grape. — A correspondent of the Boston 
Cultivator, speaks in high terms of a seedling grape 
purchased of G. B. Emerson, Esq., of Boston. 
The size of the berry is said to be about that of 
an ounce bullet, or of the sweet water grape. — 
The flavor is rich, much more so than the Isabella. 
It has no pulp or foxy taste. — It is not likely to be 
injured by frost, as it puts out about ten days later 
than the Isabella, and ripens a month earlier. It 



AMERICAN GRAPES AND VINEYARDS. 51 

was in eating the latter part of August. The vine 
is perfectly hardy. — If this description is correctj 
this grape is w^ell worthy of being more known 
and cultivated. — Its early ripening is greatl)^ in its 
favor as a northern grape. I would particularly 
recommend it to our amateur and experimental 
cultivators. 

Herbemont's Madeira^ or Warrenfon Grape. — 
This grape is raised near Baltimore. It had foreign 
origin and is a great bearer. In the state of Mis- 
sissippi wine is made of this grape ; and in that 
state they have a very fine grape, called the Jack 
Grape. 

Onvigshiirs^h Grape. — A fine round grape, dis- 
covered by Dr. Hulin, of Philadelphia. It is of 
small size — very hardy — said to be hybrid. 

A new grape has been announced in the papers 
as native of Italy, and taken from under the snoio 
in Savoy and Piedmont. — Some of the wine of 
these vines was brought to New York in 1845, by 
Mr. Lester, Consul at Geneva, and a quantity of 
the vines sold by Wm. H. Franklin &; Son. The 
wine is stated to be of the very best, and the grape 
would probably succeed well in our climate. 

Great Productiveness. — A vine was raised by 
Mr. Willis, of Maryland, which in 1832, had 25,- 
000 bunches of grapes ; and in the following year, 
1833, his neighbours, C. M. Bromwell, and R. 
Monkland, certify to have counted 54,490 bunches, 
omitting small and young bunches, which would 
have added at least 3,000 more. 

Woodson Grape. — A native of Prince Edward 
County, Virginia, color red, berry of a medium 
size between the Chicken and the large Fox — the 
bunches very compact, and weighing about four 
ounces — free from pulp, and of a rich flavor — one 
small seed — good for the table and for wine. 



52 AMERICAN GRAPES AND VINEYARDS. 

Cunningham Grape — A native of Prince Ed- 
ward County, Virginia. — Black or deep purple — 
bunches ragged and irregular — free from pulp and 
rich in saccharine matter — the skin thick and 
leathery — one small seed — good for the table and 
for wine. 

Boston. Mass. — Great quantities of grapes are 
raised in and about Boston, but we do not know of 
any large vineyards for wine or for the Market. — 
Men of wealth raise foreign varieties in hot houses, 
and the finest grapes 1 have ever seen were at the 
Horticultural exhibitions in that city. 

Nantucket, Mass. — Vines are said to be cultivat- 
ed in Nantucket in considerable quantities. 

Louisville^ Kentucky.— -Mr. John L. Martin, has 
a vineyard of 20 acres of Catawba grapes. The 
vines are in rows, at 8 and 10 feet apart between 
the rows. 

Vineyard at Glasgoiv, Kentucky. — This vine- 
yard was planted by James G. Hicks and a Swiss 
Gentleman in 1814. — It comprises five acres. The 
o-rapes first planted were Madeira, Claret, Cape, 
Burgundy and Champaign. — The Claret and Cape 
thrive well, and the others were abandoned. — Mr. 
H. is convinced that a vineyard well cultivated 
will yield from 300 to 500 gallons per acre, and 
that one man can with ease cultivate five acres. 

At Germantown, Penn. — Mr. Edward H. Bon- 
sall, has a vineyard commenced in 1825, which in 
1830, had 3,500 vines. Mr. B. prefers the Ca- 
tawba, the Black Madeira, and the Isabella grapes, 
and makes a quantity of good wine. — Mr. B. plant- 
ed his vineyard in rows eight feet apart, and vines 
Jive feet in the rows. — His trellis is of No. 11 iron 
wire made soft, and sustained on chesnut posts 
seven feet long set in the ground ten feet apart — 
three lines of wire between the ground and the top 



f 

AMERICAN GRAPES AND VINEYARDS. 53 

of the post. The wire is drawn tight, and turned 
around nails in the posts. — The wire trelhs saves 
part of the labor of tying, as the tendrils will natu- 
rally twine themselves around it. This trellis also 
admits freely the sun and air. Mr. B. allows each 
vine, after it attains five years of age, to bear fifty 
clusters on an average. — When fresh pruned his 
vines are not more than four feet high at any age. 

At Galliopolis, Ohio, good wine is made. 

In Maryland and Virginia, the Bland grape 
grows abundantly. It passes in Virginia under 
the name of the Virginia Muscadel. It ripens in 
Philadelphia in the first week of October, and hangs 
on the vines till December. 

BrinkletjviUe, N. C.—S. Weller, P. M., in Nov. 
1844, informed the Editor of the Cultivator, that 
among his vines the Scuppernong ranks first south 
of lat. 37 1-2, but of no superior excellence north 
of that. Norton's Virginia Seedling, good every 
where as far as heard. — Weller's Halifax, Vine 
Arbor, &c. — The Catawba, Isabella, Herbemont's 
Madeira, are cultivated. Mr. W., says — '• I plant 
all but the scuppernong 10 feet each way; but for 
that 30 feet each way is full near. At 40 feet, well 
managed, they will form a canopy over head in 10 
or 12 years. Some branches of mine at that age 
extend 60 feet each way." 



VARIOUS USES OF THE VINE. 

Every part of the crop of the vineyard is of use 
to men and animals, and nothing need be lost or 
wasted. The leaves and green prunings are eaten 
by horses, cows, and sheep. The leaves should 
never be taken from the vine, but when they fall 
5 



t 
54 VARIOUS USES OF THE VINE. 

they may be gathered and mingled with hay, to 
which they impart a very grateful flavor and odour. 
If left on the ground or ploughed under they con- 
stitute the best manure for the vines. 

Many healing virtues have been ascribed to the 
sap of the vine, which runs very profusely if a 
twig is cut too late in the season. 

Fresh Isabella grapes are much seen on the tables 
in New York and Brooklyn, during the New Year 
Holidays. They are preserved in clusters, in lay- 
ers of cotton, or in dried saw dust or bran. 

Intewfperance restrained, — No truth is better es • 
tabhshed than the fact that intemperance and drun- 
kenness are much less known in wine countries, 
than in other parts where the vine is not cultivat- 
ed. This single circumstance is of immeasurable 
importance in these United States, where it is 
abundantly proved that alcoholic liquors, are the 
cause of more bloodshed, vice, misery, and crime, 
than all the other causes united. Whatever has a 
tendency to check or abridge this national evil, 
must surely engage the best exertions of the phi- 
lanthropist and statesman. An American returned 
from Europe, says — " I have passed three years 
in France, where I never saw a drunken French- 
man. Eighteen months in Italy, and in that time 
not an Italian intoxicated. Nearly two years in 
Switzerland, of which I cannot say the same, but 
I can safely aver, that during that period I did not 
see twenty drunken men, and when ever my feel- 
ings were pained at beholding a prostration so sad 
over better principles, it was invariably on an oc- 
casion of extraordinary festivity. 

" The Swiss are by no means an intemperate 
people, nor is it, so far as I have seen, the charac- 
ter of any wine growing country. In the argu- 



VARIOUS USES OF THE VINE. 55 

ments, therefore, which may fairly be urged in 
favor of the cultivation of the vine, a strongly in- 
citing motive addresses our personal interest, and 
invites us to adopt a system by which our revenues 
will be increased, and agriculture improved. There 
is yet a more important light in which it appeals 
to our public spirit, and our better principles as a 
Christian community — the moral improvement of 
society. That we are not indifferent to this impor- 
tant view of it, is manifest from the numerous 
philanthropic institutions, both public and private, 
with which our country abounds. =^ * * * =i^ * 

" Societies for the promotion of that first of vir- 
tues, temperance, are established throughout the 
land, but the principal sinew of their operations is 
unstrung. The cultivation of the vine will do 
more toward the furtherance of their object than 
a host of non-consuming resolutions." 

These then are the opinions of one of our ob- 
serving and intelligent countrymen,* and they cor- 
respond with the experience of others. The vine 
culture, then appeals to our best feehngs as patriots 
and as moralists. May we not therefore, hope that 
the whiskey of our western country will give way 
to the wine which may be produced in abundance 
every where. May we not confidently trust that 
every friend of temperance will view the grape as 
an important aid in the grand work of temperance 
and morality. 

To make Raisins. — Make a strong lye of wood 
ashes, put it in a vessel over the fire, and when at 
boiling heat plunge in a cluster and suffer it to wilt 
in the liquid, when it'is drawn out, after becoming 

* Observations on Uie character and culture of the European 
Vine, during a residence of five years in the Vine-grovjfing dis- 
tricts of France, Italy, and Switzerland. — B\' S. I. Fisher. 



56 VARIOUS USES OF THE VINE. 

wrinkled. It is then drained and spread on hur- 
dles to dry, where it remains until perfected. 

In 1830, Mr. Walsh, of Lansingbnrgh, sent a 
sample of American Raisins to Mr. Fleet, Editor 
of the New York Farmer. They were described 
as having a pleasant flavor, and exhibiting good 
proof of what might be done. 

Fresh and dried grapes are both favorable to 
health and frugality. Ripe grapes have been ad- 
ministered to whole regiments of troops in France, 
who have heen ravaged by fluxes and dysenteries. 
A cure was thus soon effected. 

Syrup, cordials, and marmalades, are made of 
the grapes, and are a great delicacy and luxury. 

The murk from the wine press is given as food 
to animals. — It is also good for pouhry. If given 
in a moist state, or in too great quantities, it is heat- 
ing or inebriating. 

If the murk is not otherwise used it makes an 
excellent manure, for the vines, mingled with other 
manures. — The murk is also used in tanning 
leather ; the operation being rapid, and giving a 
fine odour to the leather. 

In the family of the Swiss peasant wine is essen- 
tial, and supercedes the use of tea, coffee, or any 
other stimulating beverage. Inferior, therefore, in 
quality as their wines unquestionably are, they are 
sold at a price, giving in many parts of the coun- 
try a value to the lands which, but for the vine, 
would be a waste, unfit for cultivation. 

To keep Grapes Fresh, — Foreign grapes come 
to us preserved in jars with dry saw dust ; but they 
are tasteless and insipid, having an odour of the 
wood. — We sometimes see American grapes of 
good flavor served on the tables at the holiday fes- 
tivals of Christmas and New Year, but they are 



sriSIT TO AN AMERICAN VINEYARD. 57 

rare. These have mostly been kept in layers of 
cotton, in a dry place. It is a matter of much im- 
portance, and we hope various experiments will 
be made to discover the proper mode of preserv- 
ing fresh grapes. The Vine Dresser's M^mual 
gives the following process, as being simple and 
certain. " Take a new cask, dry and strongly 
hooped, stand it in some spot where the tempera- 
ture is always very nearly equal — cover the bot- 
tom with bran that has been well dried in the oven, 
and put into it the ripe, unblemished, perfect 
bunches, layer by layer, filhng in with the bran 
before another layer is laid down. When filled, 
the head must be fastened down air-tight. Grapes 
thus put up, will keep so well that seven months 
after the vintage they will be unspecked, without 
mould or foreign flavor," 

Some persons seal the ends of the stems of the 
cluster with sealing wax, and then put them in 
dried saw dust or dried bran, and then seal the 
pot — the pot itself is sometimes covered and 
sealed. 



VISIT TO AN AMERICAN VINEYARD. 

On the 4th of October, 1843, 1 received a writ- 
ten notice from T. B. Wakeman, Esq., Corres- 
ponding Secretary of the American Institute, in- 
forming me that I had been selected, together with 
S. Stevens, J. D. Ward, Henry Meigs, and others, 
a Committee of the Institute to visit the Vineyard 
of Dr. Underbill, at Croton Point, on the 8th of 
October. — The day proved to be very tempestu- 
ous and wet, and only Mr. Meigs and myself made 
tlie excursion. Dr. U. met us on board the steam 
5* 



68 VISIT TO AN AMERICAN VINEYARD. 

boat, and we went to Sing Sing, and thence in Dr. 
U's. boat in 10 minutes to Croton Point, driven by 
a gale of wind. 

The first thing which arrested our attention on 
landing, as we walked along the shore, was a long 
artificial pond, parallel to the shore, and only a rod 
or two distant, which had been made by taking out 
many thousand loads of feat or muck, which had 
been carried to the vineyard on the high ground in 
its natural state, and without making into compost. 
The pond had been thus made by excavation to 
the depth of ten feet, and had become a valuable 
fish pond. This peat bed formed a mine for en- 
riching the land. 

The next interesting object was the vineyard 
itself, comprizing about 20 acres, divided with cart 
paths at certain distances, with rows of vines 6 or 8 
feet apart. We first saw the Catawba grapes, of a 
pale-red or brick color, and not quite ripe, but good 
and palatable. The vineyard was kept clean and 
neat by ploughing and hoeing between them. The 
posts are first immersed at both ends in coal tar — 
the lower end sufficient for the tar to reach above 
ground. — These posts are set in the ground 10 feet 
apart, the trellis is of stout wire, which also had 
been immersed in coal tar, and three lines of this 
wire attached to each post — one line about a foot 
from the ground, another at the top, and another 
mid-way. This was the style of the entire vine- 
yard, a great part of which is on the side of a hill 
facing the south, and the soil a light sandj^ That 
part which is on the top of the hill, being sheltered 
on all sides by high trees produces the best and 
earliest fruit. 

We passed through the vineyard, which appear- 
ed loaded with the deep purple fruit, of which 



COxNVERSATlONS OxN GRAPES. 59 

more than two thousand pounds had been sent to 
New York market the day previous. It was such 
a sight as probably was not to be seen elsewhere 
in America. 

Dr. U. is also a cultivator of Newtown Pippins 
and Peaches ; but my present object is to speak of 
grapes only. The utmost system and good man- 
agement seemed to prevail throughout the whole 
place. 

After partaking of the Doctor's hospitality, we 
returned to the city with as many fine grapes as 
we could carry. 



CONVERSATIONS ON GRAPES. 

At the room of the American Institute, in the 
City of New York, are held Semi-monthly " Far- 
mer's Clubs " for conversation on subjects of Agri- 
culture, and matters of science therev/ith connect- 
ed. In the months of March and April, 1846, the 
subject of grapes was introduced, which we find 
thus reported in the New York Farmer and Me- 
chanic. 

Farmer'' s Club. — Dr. Underbill said : — '' I am 
asked to speak on the grape question — but I can- 
not in the space of an hour give a proper view of 
it. I will, therefore, but sketch ! The grape is 
immortalized in history, poetry, in scripture, in 
painting. The rich architecture of antiquity, the 
frescoes, vases, and other beautiful works are en- 
twined with the vine and its precious clusters. 
The tendrils of the grape have enwrapped the heart 
of man in every country where it grows- The 
grape is so delicious, so salutary — diluting the 
blood, and causing it to flow easily through the 



60 CONVERSATIONS ON GRAPEJS. 

veins — and there is nothing equal to it for old age. 
In this country its use will grow, will increase until 
its consumption will be prodigious. It will sup- 
plant some of the articles which destroy men, and 
establish the cheerful body in place of the bloated, 
diseased systems of the intemperate. No disease 
of the liver — no dyspepsia are found among those 
who freely eat the grape. This remarkable fact is 
stated in reference to the vineyard portions of 
France. Pej'sons who are sickly in grape coun- 
tries, are made well when grapes are ripe. And 
this result is familiarly called^ the Grape Cure ! 
In this country our attention has been long misdi- 
rected. We have spent years and sums of money 
on imported vines. We have proved the fallacy of 
all this. The foreign grape vine will not flourish 
in our open air. It only thrives under glass ! I 
suppose that millions of dollars have been lost on 
these foreign vines during the past century. Ch- 
mate has settled that question. Our extremes of 
cold and heat are incompatible with the character 
of the foreign vine. Time will show that our na- 
tive stock of grapes will, by cultivation, gradually 
improve in quality. It is with them, as with ani- 
mals, great amelioration follows care and proper 
knowledge. I spent some thousands of dollars on 
the foreign grape vines, without success. — We 
want to supply our 20 miUions of people with fine 
arapes! In 1830, France produced fourteen thou- 
sand milUon pounds of grapes. Of which, were 
consumed on the tables and exported in the form 
of raisins, ik^c, two thousand million of pounds ! 
Are you afraid that our market will be overstocked 
from the few vineyards which we have ? 

There are many books on the culture of the 
vine, but their doctrines are generally not at all ap- 



CONVERSATIONS ON GRAPES. 61 

plicable to our country. Europe has the moisture 
from the ocean — we have the dry winds blowing 
over our continent. More heat penetrates our 
ground in one of our hot, bri2;ht days, than Eng- 
land has in a week, The books of Europe are an 
honor and an ornameni to the world — but they 
lead us from the truth frequently — such is the great 
difference of the climates of Europe and America. 
We must here select our best native grapes — there 
are many — of which we have now proved the 
Isabella and Catawba to be excellent. Plant the 
vines deep, on dry soil, where there are no springs 
of water— on slaty, calcareous, or other soils — but 
the drier they are, the better for the grape. A soil 
of brick clay will not do. The roots must be deep, 
to avoid our severe droughts. Plough the ground 
exceedingly deep before you plant your vineyard. 
I have found that in seven years' culture, the sav- 
age musk of my Isabella has vanished. Its charac- 
ter is greatly changed for the better. Its pulp is 
almost gone ; its seeds are less. 

The culture of the vine has one great and emi- 
nent advantage over all other crops. If you plant 
it well, you will get an increasmg crop for twenty- 
five years ; and every year (with rare exceptions) 
for fifty and even seventy-five years, a good crop. 
Vines will sometimes live a hundred years I — and 
on our native vines you can have double the quan- 
tity which is obtained from a vine in Europe, 
where the vine has from ages of short pruning, 
become feeble, and attained its perfection. We do 
not let the vines bear one half as many grapes as 
they would if all were left on. Thin them out 
well. You will have better and richer fruit. 

Mr. Hyde. — How do you prune your vines'? 

Dr. Underbill. — I do not spur them! I cut 



62 CONVERSATIONS ON GRAPES. 

away the old, and bring the new vine to bear. 
Nineteen out of twenty persons spur-prune their 
vines in this city — leaving two eyes on. 

I kee]) my vines within about six feet in height 
for convenience in gathering the clusters. All kinds 
of animal substances are good for manure for vines. 
Street manure is excellent for them. They ought 
not, however, to be stimulated too highly, for then 
they become profuse in foliage, and the fruit mil- 
dews and rots. An even regular growth ought to 
be kept up. Rotten sods mixed with barn-yard 
manure is good for vines. Blood is good. Long 
Island might by means of the fish called Manhaden 
be made one beautiful vineyard! Take the fish in 
June, make a hole near the root with a crowbar, 
push down a fish — there will be no smell from it, 
and it is an admirable manure lor grape. 

Composts of sea weed, black earth and cow and 
horse dung are good. 

Judge Livingston — Have you tried wood ashes? 
Dr. Underbill — That is excellent on sandy 
lands where their phosphates are leeched off by 
rains, 

Prune in March ! they bleed, and my bleeding 
vines present a magnificent spectacle in the rays 
of the sun. Slight bleeding does not hurt them a 
bit ! The buds start the better for it. The Ger- 
mans say, "If the juice runs out of the ends of the 
vines, we know we shall have a good crop 1" In 
France and Italy, however, they do not prune so as 
to bleed their vines. 

A Member — You would do a good thing if you 
would publish a set of plain, clear instructions for 
grape culture ! 

Dr. Underbill. — That I have no time to do just 
yet, but am always happy to give any information 



COiNVEKSATIONS ON GRAPES. 63 

in my power at No. 400, Broadway, N. Y.; will 
be there most of the time till May. 

At the next meeting the subject of grapes came 
np, and experiments were detailed of planting 
seeds to produce new articles. Mr. Longworth of 
Ohio, who raises largely for making wine, planted 
the seeds and obtained several varieties, but few 
of which were as good, and none better than the 
original. The grapes of Ohio are not as good as 
those in this vicmity, though of the -same species. 
Their Isabella and Catawbas do not compare with 
ours ; and the Ohio grape, which is the great fa- 
vorite, is no better than our Isabella. 

A curious statement of the sexes of plants was 
given. The Scuppernong grape, which is very 
luxuriant and productive at the south, had been in- 
troduced here. The vine grew very well, but no 
grapes appeared, and on an investigation into the 
cause it was found to be the absence of the male 
plants, which grow spontaneously in North Caro- 
lina, in the woods and corners of fields, so as to 
preclude the necessity of planting it in the vine- 
yard, the pollen being transported by the wind and 
by insects. This Scuppernong grape is a very good 
one ; the vine grows like the banyan tree, forming 
roots and limbs interminably. One in North Caro- 
lina covers two and a half acres of ground. The 
stock vine is sometimes two feet in circumference. 

Several years ago the wine of the Scuppernong 
grape was put on the table in this city with wines 
from Shi rah in Persia, Constantinople, Italy, France 
and other places. It was thought better far than 
the famous Persian wine, and better than almost 
any of the varieties tried. A barrel of Scuppernong 
was lately put upon the lees of Madeira, and a few 
months after drawn off and pronounced excellent 
old Madeira, by good judges. 



64 CONVERSATIONS ON GRAPES. 

The vine lives to a great age. The Northaller- 
ton vine ill England lived 400 years; it died about 
15 years since; it was two feet in circumference. 
On the continent, they also live to about the same 
age. 

Some conversation was had upon the unsuccess- 
ful! efforts to introduce the foreign grape into this 
country. A difference of opinion on its practica- 
bihty seemed to exist ; but it is pretty evident from 
experience that it will not succeed unless the vine 
is covered. 

Dr. Underbill made some remarks upon the cul- 
ture of the grape — of the necessity of dry soils for 
vineyards, in order to get the best produce and the 
best flavor. His remarks were somewhat lengthy, 
and nearly of the same tenor as those made at the 
last meeting. 

Some persons have taken off the leaves for the 
purpose of having their grapes ripen. This is^ a 
great mistake ; it is taking away the very lungs 
which perfect the sap for ripening and flavoring the 
fruit. Inquiries were made concerning a small 
green fly which molests the grape. Not much 
knowledge of its effects was brought out; never- 
theless, it was thought proper to take efficient 
means to destroy it while in the caterpillar state. 
The rose bug must also be kept off the grape vine. 
This insect comes from the ground. They are de- 
stroyed by ploughing the vineyards in the fall. 
Birds do not destroy grapes here, probably because 
the Isabella and Catawba are too large for their 
mouths. 

At a meeting in April, the following conversa- 
tion took place : 

Col. Clark. — A gentleman planted the seeds of 
our native grapes, and obtained a variety of new 



CONVERSATIONS ON GRAPES. 65 

kinds of grapes. Why do we not find more varie- 
ties when the seeds are so distributed by birds, by 
animals, and by waters ? Our wild Fox Grape 
retains its pecuHar character: so does our Frost 
Grape. 1 have grafted on their stocks success- 
fully. 

Dr. Underbill. — Mr. Longworth of Ohio sowed 
large quantities of seed from the Isabella and Ca- 
tawba grapes he had pressed for wine. He had 
several acres of such vines, but few of them prov- 
ed to be as good, and none of them better than our 
Isabella and Catawba. It is said that these latter 
give better fruit here than they do at the South. 
The Ohio grape — the Norton's seedling — is said to 
be no better than our highly cultivated Isabella or 
Catawba. The Norton is a very compact, heavy 
cluster of round berries. 

Mr. Meigs. — What do you say to the Scupper- 
nong ? A gentleman was here the other day who 
promised to give me a precise account of some of 
those vines, one of which spread to such an extent 
as to cover two and a half acres — under the shelter 
of which large parties of ladies and gentlemen met 
in Fetes Champetres ! 

Dr. Underbill. — Their growth is propagated by 
laying a branch in the ground, where it roots and 
tlius continues to great extent, but that process 
constitutes a new vine ! We find a difficulty in 
raising that grape for want of the male vine. 

The Scuppernong grape is large, but there are 
seldom more than ten or twelve berries in a bunch. 
They shake the vine when using them for wine and 
those grapes that are ripe fall off. As to the Bland 
grape of Virginia, it is of a mahogany color, of a 
miM sweet taste, but it is without the aroma of the 
Isabella and Catawba. 

6 



66 CONVERSATIONS ON GRAPES. 

Col. Clark. — The wild grape vines of the South, 
often attain from ten to twelve inches in diameter, 
and the branches run several hundred feet. 

Mr. Meigs. — 1 have at the soirees of my learned 
and amiable friend, the late Dr. Mitchell, tasted of 
Scuppernong wine, of wine of the islands Chios, 
Tenedos, of those of Syria, Greece, Constantinople, 
and some which I had from Shiraz in Persia, and 
the opinion then was, that there was no great supe- 
riority in any of them over the Scuppernong. 

Col. Clark. — I put the Scuppernong wine on the 
Lees of Madeira, and it was found to be excel- 
lent. 

Judge Van Wyck. — Tlie grape vine is long- 
lived, and some of them cover a great space. In 
England they are long-lived ; the North AUerton 
vine measured about four feet in circumference, 
and was 150 feet long. Some vines on the conti- 
nent reached 400 years of age, and were deemed 
young at 100 years. Theorists say that our cli- 
mate is not suited to the European grape ; but the 
vine^ as to its capabihty of being acclimated, is as 
flexible as its tendrils. We have not experimented 
much with them. 

England made wine from her grapes ages ago. 
She afterwards imported the continental vines. — 
England now raises clusters of grapes occasionally, 
which weigh from ten to twelve pounds and more, 
and has grapes every month in the year. I have 
no doubt but that the European grapes will be in- 
troduced here. Many countries where the grape 
tlourishes, have as much heat as we have here. 

Dr. Underhill. — I have learned by my own ex- 
perience the difficulty of naturalizing the European 
grape here, and we have suffered in the experi- 
ments, in this country, the loss of millions of doi- 



CONVERSATIONS ON GRAPES. 67 

lars in trying them. Grapes were raised in Eng- 
land in the twelfth century, and they made wine 
there; but now all the fine grapes of England are 
under protection either of wails or of glass. So 
we raise them here to a considerable extent, and 
shall raise many moi'e. — But that is not the object ; 
we want to cover our hills and our fields with 
them. The foreign vines planted in our open 
grounds are nearly all gone ; they could not bear 
the violent fluctuations of our climate. 

I find the native vine flourishing among rocks 
where the materials of the rock washed down and 
the leaves fallen, accumulate— and in the allu vials 
along water courses, but tiiat fruit is not good. 
Like some plants which are wholesome on dry 
soils and become poisonous in very wet situations. 
The wild vine at its first growth is tender and deli- 
cate, it seeks for support from a neighboring tree, 
perhaps a giant oak of ages ; it begins to entwine 
the tree, gradually ascends, reaches at last his lofty 
head and crowns him with his gold and purple 
clusters ! 

There is not a more profitable and certain crop 
than the grape — our Isabella will ripen where corn 
will ! and not fail once in ten years. It can be 
grown in favorable locations in Vermont, and pro- 
bably in Canada. If placed among rocks, it is 
found that the rocks being heated by the sun dur- 
ing the day, keep that warmth during the night so 
as to prevent frost, and the vine loves the position. 

Rank manure should never be applied to the 
vines. Mildew is one of the evils of that applica- 
tion. Never take off the leaves ! I have raised 
up some branches of foliage to cover my grapes 
more eflectually in very hot days ! Let there be a 
free circulation of air among them ! 



68 CONVERSATIONS ON GRAPES. 

Dr. Alex. H. Stevens. — Have your vines ever 
suffered from the small green fly ? 

Dr. Underbill. — I have never suffered so as to 
make it an object to destroy them. 

Dr. Stevens. — Do those flies appear most numer- 
ous where there is the least circulation of air? 

Dr. Underbill. — I cannot say that, but they al- 
ways assail the most feeble vines. The mud 
Swallows took possession of a bank near my vine- 
yard, and I found that they destroyed the flies. 
The young flies may be found on the under side 
of the leaves, they appear as plant lice before they 
get their wings. — And I must say that those who 
mean to have fruit must destroy all hurtful in- 
sects. 

The Rosebug loves grapes — I have heretofore 
described the habits of this bug. In Hungary, 
vast flocks of blackbirds hover over vineyards — 
the men by firing guns keep them from settUng, 
else they would soon destroy the whole crop of 
grapes. But in this country birds have not yet 
learned that grapes really are one of the good 
things of life. 

Dr. Underbill. — Wild grapes love alluvial wet 
positions, but their flavor is not to be compared 
with those growing in dry soils. The wild grape 
has a thick skin, hard pulp, large seeds. By cul- 
ture in dry situations, the skin and seeds become 
one half less thick and large, and the pulp almost 
disappears. The cranberry probably improves in 
all respects by the transfer from marsh to upland. 
As to grapes, their excellence is progressive with 
us. The Germans and Italians now say that our 
cultivated grapes are this year as good as the Eu- 
ropean.— Grapes will degenerate by neglected cul- 
tivation. 



MAKING OF WINE. 69 



MAKING OF WINE. 



In the year.lS27, 1 planted about three hundred 
cuttings of the Isabella grape vine, at a small place 
in Brooklyn, Long Island. They were much in- 
jured by my tenants, who planted the ground with 
potatoes, and did not come into bearing until 1831. 
In ihe fall of that year I sent a quantity of the fruit 
to the market, and made about fifty gallons of wine, 
merely as an experiment, as I supposed myself to 
be the first who had attempted to make wine of this 
grape. The wine was of two kinds, made in Oc- 
tober, 1831, and in the April following was put in- 
to bottles, and one bottle of each kind sent to about 
fifty persons in diftereni parts, who were supposed 
to feel an interest in the matter. One kind was 
made of pure juice, to which two pounds of sugar 
to each gallon was added. The other kind was 
composed of one-third water to two-thirds juice — 
3 pounds of sugar to each gallon — one gallon of 
brandy to a cask of nineteen gallons. — Some of 
this wine attained five years, and was pronounced 
very excellent. 

I received from several persons to whom I had 
sent specimens of my wine, letters complimentary 
on my success, with remarks and advice relative 
to future experiments. — The following from the 
late Zechariah Lewis, Esq., of Brooklyn, alludes 
to his possession of the original vine ; 



Brooklyn, Jlpril 20, 1832. 
Col. SpooneRj 

Sir: — I have the pleasure to ac- 
knowledge the receipt of your circular, accompanied with 
the two bottles of Isabella Wine of your own manufac- 
turing. You will please accept my thanks for your polite 
6^ 



70 MAKING OF WINE. 

attention, together with a bottle of Isabella Wine, nnade 
by myself in September, 1830. 

Finding that a part of my grapes of th^t season, were 
not hkely to ripen, and having read Adlum's account of 
making wine of " Immature Grapes," I concluded to try 
the experiment on a small scale. About one third of the 
grapes on each cluster had turned a dark purple, another 
third were red, and the remainder were still white and 
not half grown. I pursued the general process recom- 
mended in Mr. Adlum's Memoir, page 79; adopting, 
however, the mode of fermenting, suggested under the 
head of Variations of the /process, page 81. You will 
perceive, by turning to Mr Adlum's reeeipe, that I gave 
a larger proportion of sugar and water, than was used in 
either of your samples. No brandy was added, with the 
exception of a half pint, previously put into the five- 
gallon cask to cleanse and sweeten it. 

The body of this wine is not equal to yours, but the 
flavor 1 think fine. Judging from your samples, and my 
own, I am persuaded, that the Isabella grape, whether 
partially or wholly ripe, will, after a few experiments, be 
found to make a wine of very superior quality and 
flavor. 

Your account of the introduction of this grape into this 
region is undoubtedly correct. The first vine of this 
species, every brought to this climate, was presented to 
Mrs, Isabella GIbbs ; and her husband gave it the name 
of his wife. It has already spread to Pennsylvania, New 
Jersey, every part of New York, the New-England 
States, Michigan, and the Canadas ; and the stump of 
the parent of all, to be found North of the Carolinas, is 
still visible in the garden now in my possession. 

I am, Sir, 

Very Respectfully, ^ 

Your's, &*j. ^ 

Z. LEWIS. 



MAKING OF WINE. 71 

In the year 1832, my little vineyard bore very 
abundantly, and I made, in October of that year, 
eight barrels of wine. It was made in a variety of 
modes, to test the qiiaUty of the grape, and did not 
all prove good; but far the greater part was very 
excellent, and improved with age. 

The grapes were gathered and thrown into tubs, 
without breaking the clusters, or separating the 
ripe from the unripe. They were broken by a 
common pounder, and merely cracking the skin is 
sufficient, and care should be taken that the seeds 
be not broken. The tnurk or pomace, is thrown 
into a large vat, which is covered with one or more 
blankets, to confine the heat and hasten fermenta- 
tion- A portion is sometimes warmed and added to 
the mass, to give it a start. The pomace rises on 
the top, and the whole will continue to rise and fer- 
ment upwards for four or five days. When it be- 
gins to sink, the fine liquor, as clear as oil, may be 
drawn by a tap from near the bottom of the vat, as 
long as it will run clear. This makes the best 
wine. The pomace is then pressed in any conve- 
nient mode, and all the juice extracted. — The li- 
quor is then called must, and in this state it is when 
any addition may be made, such as sugar or 
brandy. Nothing will incorporate well unless ad- 
ded before fermentation. I added in different casks 
from one to three pounds of sugar per gallon. If 
properly made, the wine does not require brandy, 
nor any other spirit, and is much better without it'. 

After the sugar is added in due proportion to the 
must, it is put into casks in a moderately cool 
place, and just filled to the open bung, and "allow- 
ed while fermenting to overflow. It will work 
briskly for a month or more, and when it sinks in 
the cask, must be filled up so as to overflow. It is 



72 MAKING OF WINE. 

best to stop the fermentation before it quite sub- 
sides, in order to preserve the fine aroma of the 
wine ; and this is done by repeated rackings or 
drawing off into casks, previously smoked with 
sulphur, by burning in them rags dipped in melted 
brimstone. If any particular flavor is desired to 
be communicated artificially, it must be done while 
the must is in the early stages of fermentation. It 
will probably continue to ferment after this sul- 
phuring and racking; and it may then be fined 
or clarified. Many substances may be employed 
in this. Whites of eggs — milk and sand — fish- 
glue, sometimes called isinglass, may be stirred 
into the wine, which may be racked off in a week 
or ten days afterwards. At every racking a quan- 
tity of sediment is removed from the bottoms of 
the casks, and these rackings and finings must be 
continued until the wine is perfectly pure. I com- 
menced my wine making in October and consider- 
ed it fit for bottling in the March following. 

Although I was successful in making some good 
wine, yet I do not flatter myself that I know much 
about it. An excellent little book published by Mr. 
Adlum, of Georgetown in the District of Columbia, 
who was a great cultivator of grapes and manu- 
facturer of wine, was my best guide in wine- 
liiaking. 

The wine is of a beautiful red color, and at first 
appears sweet, but will gradually become sharper, 
and still retain the delightful flavor, as well as 
odour of the grape. It diffuses an inward glow, 
cheering and healthful. 

I ascertained that a measured bushel of grapes, 
as they came from the vine in clusters, weighed 
thirty eight pounds. I also weighed 100 pounds 
of grapes and crushed them, and obtained a little 



MAKING OF WINE. 73 

more than nine gallons of juice. It thus requires 
eleven or twelve pounds of grapes for each gallon 
of wine. 

Mr. Longworth, says: — I have v^^ine of my 
own manufacture, now six years old, the pure juice 
of the grape. 

In wine countries the new juice is often boiled 
down till its fermenting quality is destroyed, and 
its saccharine quality nearly doubled. 

Brandy is added to stop fermentation. 

Mr. N. Longworth, of Delhi, in Ohio, obtained 
a premium in 1833 for a rich light wine from the 
Catawba grape. He also produced a good red 
wine from a native grape.— Mr. L. manufactured 
105 gallons of wine from one iourteenth part of an 
acre. 

Sciqjpernoiig. — It is stated that Capt. Barling- 
ham, near Louisburgh, in North Carolina, about 
the year 1831, cultivated the Scuppernong grape 
with success. From twelve vines he made five 
hundred gallons of wine, worth one dollar per 
gallon. One barrel of imist, made of the first 
gleanings, required 21 pounds of sugar to make it 
bear an egg; while another barrel of later grapes 
required but seven pounds. 

Wine ill Georgia. — Col. Alexander, of Jasper 
County, Georgia had a vineyard of seven acres 
from which he made between one and two thous- 
and gallons of wine, which he sold from $1,50 to 
$2,00 per gallon. He cultivates eight varieties of 
the grape. His soil is a rich red clay. 

A harsh grape to the taste will often produce 
very good wine. The wild grapes of the Swamps 
on Long Island, have been successfully used for 
wine. 

At Vevay, they have had as high as 500 gallons 



/4 TO MAKE WINE OF IMMATURE GRAPES. 

of wine per acre, but more often only 150, and 
260 IS considered a good crop. 

Women in grape countries do about one half the 
labor. 

A writer in the National Intelligencer, says — 
"About 1,600,000 arpents, or 1,350,400 acres, are 
in France employed in the culture of the vine. 
The value of the annual product is about 100,808,- 
000 dollars, at about 20 cents per gallon. 

Wine. — That wine is the strongest, and has 
most flavor in which both the skins and stones are 
bruised and fermented. 

Mr. Jefferson, in a letter to Maj. Adlum, dated 
April 20, 1810, says — " Be assured that there is 
never one atom of any thing whatever put into any 
of the good wines made in France. I name that 
country because I can vouch the fact from the as- 
surance to myself of the vignerons of all the best 
wine cantons of that country which I visited my- 
self.'* 

One bushel of grapes yielded Maj. Adlum three 
gallons of wine. 

Many farmers near Fayetteville, North Caro- 
lina, have for many years drank excellent wine of 
their own raising from native grapes. 



TO MAKE WINE OF IMMATURE GRAPES. 

It often happens that the grapes on the Isabella 
and Catawba vines do not fully ripen, and are en- 
tirely unfit for eating. In such cases they may be 
converted into very excellent wine. The late Mr. 
Adlum, of Georgetown, sent the following letter 
to the Editor of the Southern Agriculturist, which 
is full of information on this matter : 



TO MAKE WINE OF DIMATUKE GRAPES. 75 

From the Columbian Gazette. 

We acknowledge the receipt of four bottles of 
wine from Major Adium, accompanying his re- 
ceipt in our paper of to-day for making wine from 
the wild grape, as a specimen of what our coun- 
try can produce with trifling labor. How much 
better would it be for the health, comfort and mor- 
als of our farmers, if they would bestow more 
attention upon the manufacture of an article which 
requires so little trouble and expense, and which 
is so infinitely superior to the poisonous trash of 
every description sold under the various names 
of spirits. 

Domestic wine, Cider and Perry are not only 
more wholesome but cheaper than ardent spirits. 
We have every variety of soil and climate, and only 
need a little experience to rival the most famous 
wines of Madeira, France or Spain. 

Mr. Editor. — As there is now growing over 
the whole face of our country, thousands of bush- 
els of wild grapes, and as the Fox-grape is now 
nearly of the size it will come to when at matur- 
ity, I have written the accompanying receipt^ 
which if you publish in your useful paper, it may 
be of some advantage to the public in general. 

I have, according to this receipt^ made wines of 
various qualities, some of which accompanies this 
— it was sometimes at three or four years old equal 
to the best Madeira^ according to the opinions of 
good judges, and none of it so bad as the low 
priced rot gut wines now imported, such as your 
Malagas, Clarets, &c., and it is as salubrious as 
the best of those imported. I have made wine of 
a Pox-grape that was pronounced by Mr. Jeffer- 
son and others, equal to the Burgundy of Cham- 



76 TO MAKE WINE OF IMMATURE GRAPES. 

bertin, one of the best wines in France, and it was 
at the time compared with Bw^guiidy he had on 
his table, imported by himself when he was Presi- 
dent of the United States. And last autumn I 
made a pipe of wine from the common small grape, 
growing spontaneously on the fences, stone-heaps 
and shrubs, by some called the Chicken, and by 
others the Ciolyoyi grape ; it is the Vitis silvesiris^ 
or blue bunch grape of Bartram. This wine was 
pronounced by several ladies and gentlemen re- 
cently from France, equal to, and of the flavor of 
Burgundy, that cost in France five francs per 
bottle. I am, Sir, 

Very Respectfully Yours, &c. 

JOHN ADLUM. 



Although wine may be made in any stage of 
their growth, and of any kind of grape, I would 
advise them to be left on the vines until they have 
attained their full size — and as the skin and stem 
of the unripe grape has no bad flavor, the grapes 
may be used in any stage of their growth. — 
Grapes of different sorts and sizes may be mixed 
together. 

The following receipt is for ten gallons, which 
may be increased to any quantity by taking the 
fruit, &c., in proportion : 

To a tub of the capacity of fifteen ©r twenty 
gallons, take forty pounds of immature grapes, [no 
7natter for the variety whether wild or cidtivated,) 
and bruise them in successive portions, by a pres- 
sure sufficient to burst the berries without break- 
ing the seeds : four gallons of water are then to be 
poured into the vessel, and the contents are to be 
carefully stirred and squeezed by the hand until 
the whole of the juice and pulp are separated from 



TO MAKE WINE OF IMMATUKE GRAPES. /7 

the solid matter. The materials are then to re- 
main at rest for a period from six to twenty-four 
hours, when they are to be strained through a 
coarse bag, by as much force as can conveniently 
be applied to them — one gallon of fresh water may 
afterwards be passed through the marc^ for the 
purpose of removing any soluble matter which 
may have remained behind. Twenty-five pounds 
of good clean sugar, either brown or white, are 
now to be dissolved in the juice thus procured, and 
the total bulk of the fluid made up with water, to 
the amount of ten gallons and a half. 

The liquor thus obtained is the artificial must 
which is equivalent to the juice of the -grape. It 
is now to be introduced into a tub of sufficient ca- 
pacity, over w^hich a blanket or similar texture, 
covered by a board, is to be thrown, the vessel be- 
ing placed in a temperature of from 60° to 80° of 
Fahrenheit's Tlierinometer. Here it may remain 
for twenty-four hours or two days, according to 
the symptoms of fermentation which it may show, 
and from this tub it may be drawn into casks to fer- 
ment. When in the cask it must be filled to the 
bung-hole, that the scum which arises from the bot- 
tom may be thrown out as the fermentation pro- 
ceeds, and the bulk of the liquor in the cask dimin- 
ishes, the superfluous portion of the mnst. {viz, the 
half gal.) which was made for the express purpose, 
must be poured in so as to keep the liquor still near 
the hwig-hole. When the fermentation becomes a 
little languid, as may be known by the diminution 
of the hissing noise, the bung is to be driven 
in and a hole bored by its side, into which a wooden 
peg is to be fitted — this peg may be drawn once in 
two or three days, for a few minutes, to let the air 
that has been generated escape — and in about three 



78 TO MAKE WINE OF IMMATURE GRAPES. 

weeks or a month it may be drove in permanently 
tight. 

The wine thus made must be put into a cool 
cellar, as it is no longer necessary to promote the 
fermentation process. If the operator is not in- 
clined to bestow any further labor or expense, he 
may examine it in some clear cold day in January 
or February, or the beginning of March, when if 
it is fine and bright, as it frequently will be, it may 
be bottled without further precautions To insure 
its fineness, however, it is the better practice to 
rack or decant it towards the end of December 
into a fresh cask (fumigated with sulphur) so as to 
clear it of its lees. At this time also, the operator 
will be able to determine whether it is not too 
sweet for his views. In this case, instead of rack- 
ing it, &c., he will stir up the lees so as to renew 
the fermenting process, taking care also to increase 
the temperature at the same time. At whatever 
time the wine is racked it ought to be fined. Some- 
times it may be necessary to rack it a second time 
into a fresh cask, {ij the ivine is not perfectly bright^ 
and again repeat the operation of fining. All 
these removals should be made in clear, dry, and 
if possible, in cold weather. In any case it must 
be bottled during the month of March. 

The wine thus produced will generally be brisk, 
and similar in its qualities to the wines of Cham- 
paign, with the strength of the best Sicily. 

Circumstances which cannot always be control- 
ed, will sometimes cause it to be sweet and still, 
and at others to be dry. 

Variation oj the process described above. — The 
skin of the grape or the whole marc, as well as the 
juice may be fermented together in the vat or tub, 
along with the sugar in the first stage of the pro- 



TO MAKE WINE OF IMMATURE GRAPES. 79 

cess. The fermentation will thus be more rapid, 
and the wine prove stronger and less sweet, but it 
will acquire more flavor. 

Cream of tartar, or which is preferable, crude 
tartar J may be added to the must in the proportion 
of six ounces to ten gallons or one pound to a 
barrel. 

If it is wished to have a very sweet as well as 
brisk wine, the sugar may be increased five pounds 
for every ten gallons. And in this case if the fruit 
is increased to fifty pounds instead of forty, or in 
that proportion, and keep it two years in the cask, 
it will assume a Madeira flavor, and it will be a 
pleasanter and better wine than most Madeira now 
imported. If the wine is intended to be less sweet, 
that isj five pounds less of sugar to the ten gallons, 
if it is not bottled in March, it will, after the month 
of August or September, be a better wine than the 
French Madeira now imported. But in all the 
above processes if it is bottled in March, it will 
seven times out of ten sparkle like Cham,paign, 
And all sparkling wines to drink them in perfec- 
tion ought to be drank in. from twelve to eighteen 
months after it is made. 

To insure briskness without excessive sweet- 
ness, the fruit must be increased to fifty pounds, 
when the sugar is from 25 to 30 pounds. If, dur- 
ing the fermentation of wine thus formed, there 
should appear any danger of the sweetness van- 
ishing altogether, it may be racked into a cask, 
fumigated with sulphur, and the fermentation 
checked by fining. Thus it will be speedily fit for 
use. 

The best mode of fining wines that I am acquaint- 
ed with is as follows, say for a cask of from thirty 
to thirty-four gallons : 



80 TO MAKE WINE OF IMMATURE GRAPES. 

Draw off a gallon or more wine, then take one 
quart of milk immediately from the cow after 
milking, and before any separation takes place, to 
which add two table spoonfuls of salt and one of 
the siveet spirits of 7iitre — mix it with the wine 
drawn, and pour it into your cask and stir it well, 
and leave the bung loose for about twelve hours, 
and then drive it tight — and in from eight to twelve 
days it will be beautifully fine and bright, and is 
ready to bottle. 

If the fermentation is complete, and all the sweet 
principle turned to alcohol, fining is unnecessary, 
as the wine will be perfectly fine and bright — and 
it is only to be fined when there is small particles 
floating in it, or cloudy; and when all the sedi- 
ment, mucilage and other impurities are got clear 
of, either by fermentation or fining, it will then 
keep for an age or ages — no matter for its strength, 
without it should extract some fermenting principle 
out of the cask. 

Ohio Wine.--Yvom an elaborate Report, pre- 
sented to the Horticultural Society of Cincinnati 
by Dr. Flagg, it appears that there are seventy- 
eight vineyards in Hamilton Co., Ohio, of which 
more than fifty are cultivated by Germans. About 
two hundred acres are planted with the grape, of 
which one hundred are in bearing order. 

The Cincinnati Gazette extracts the following 
facts from the Report : 

The amount of wine made last year exceeded 
22,000 gallons, notwithstanding more than one- 
half the crop was cut off by the frost and rot, and 
many of the vineyards are but just coming into fruit. 
The average yield of wine per acre, for five years 
in succession, is estimated at 450 to 500 gallons, 
which sells quick at $ I to $1,50 per gallon. There 



TO MAKE WINE OF IMMATURE GRAPES. 81 

will be at least one hundred more put down to 
grapes this spring, making three hundred in all, in 
Hamilton county. There are also, eight or ten 
vineyards in Kentucky, within a dozen miles of 
this city. The varieties of grape generally culti- 
vated are the Catawba and the Cape; the latter is 
called at the East, the Schuylkill Muscadel, and 
furnishes the red wine. That from the Catawba 
is white, and sells the highest. The Isabella, so 
popular at the East, is universally thrown up here, 
as unsuited to the chmate. 



N. Longworth, Esq. has experimented exten- 
sively in the culture of American grapes. His opi- 
nions are, therefore, entitled to attention. We give 
an extract from an address recently delivered : 

" I have found no foreign grape that will pay the 
expense of open culture in our climate. Native 
vines, planted on ^^round with no other preparation 
than deep ploughing, have thus far succeeded bet- 
ter than those on steep side-hills, where the ground 
was prepared with great expense. Those parts of 
my vineyard fully exposed to the north have often 
ripened their fruit better than those with a southern 
exposure. Some of the finest vines of France are 
made in a northern latitude, and on hills fully ex- 
posed to the north. 

*' Others are deterred from the cultivation of the 
vine, from an impression that great skill is neces- 
sary. The vine requires less science in its culti- 
vation than the peach or apple tree ; and the manu- 
facture of wine is a more simple process than that 
of cider. Cleanliness and careful exclusion of un- 
ripe and decayed fruit are the great requisites. 
Wines may be improved after they are completed, 

7* 



82 TO MAKE WINE OF IMMATURE GRAPES. 

by a mixture of the strong with the weak, the dry 
with the sweet, the flavorless with that possessing 
a high flavor ; but this is the province of the wine- 
merchant. . u u 

" Again, it is said we cannot succeed with the 
manufacture of wine, because the addition of sugar 
is necessary to our grapes to give them the requi- 
site sweetness. I have wine of my own manufac- 
ture, now six years old, the pure juice of the grape. 
But in all wine countries, unless it be in those 
where hght hard wines are made, sugar is added, 
or its equivalent. In Madeira, Xeres, Oporto, 
various methods are resorted to. The grapes are 
suffered to hang till a bunch of raisins can be 
plucked— or a portion of the must is boiled down, 
till its fermenting quality is destroyed, and its sac- 
charine nearly doubled, or a portion of the unfer- 
mented must is mixed with such a quantity of 
brandy as to stop the process of fermentation, and 
these are added to the must or wine. After the 
wine is perfected, from five to twelve per cent, of 
brandy is added. Even in the sunny clime of 
Italy, to enable their wine to keep without the ad- 
dition of sugar, they boil the must, and the wine 
so made is called 'Vino Cotto.' In Germ.any and 
France, sugar is frequently added. But in all 
these cases the fermentation is checked before its 
completion, and the leaven precipitated by sul- 
phuring and frequent racking. From experience, 
I am perfectly satisfied that it is immaterial whe- 
ther the saccharine principle be in the grape or 
added to the must in the form of sugar. 

" The reason so many have failed in the manu- 
facture of domestic wine, is that, instead of making 
American wine, they have, by the process of 
manufacture, attempted to produce an imitation ol 
popular foreign wines. 



RECEIPT FOR MAKING CURRANT WINE. 83 

" The. Schuylkill, Muscadel or Cape grape, the 
Isabella or Catawba, are the American grapes 
most in use for the manufacture of wine. The 
first by age becomes a good wine. The second 
will make a rich, sweet wine, by the process of 
manufacture necessary to accomplish this object, 
but it does not improve by age. From the Catawba, 
Major Adlum makes a rich, sweet wine. The 
wine which I manufacture from this grape is a 
light, dry wine, resembling those of the Rhine, and 
will successfully compete with any of them, but 
they are wines now for the first time coming in 
use among us, and command a high price. 

*' I have two other native grapes under cultiva- 
tion, from which I have yet made only a few quarts 
of wine of great promise. They are also first-rate 
table grapes. The best wine of American manu- 
facture that I have seen resembling Madeira, is 
made by a French gentleman of great intelligence, 
in South Carolina, Mr. Herbemont. He sent me 
a sample. It is made from a grape called the War- 
ren, or Herbemont's Madeira. I obtained this 
grape from him four years since, and do not hesi- 
tate to pronounce it an American grape, common 
in North Carolina, and to be found as far west as 
Missouri. As a table grape, it is equal to many 
imported varieties. 



RECEIPT FOR MAKING CURRANT WINE. 

Gather your currants when full ripe, which will 
commonly be about the middle of July; break 
them well in a tub or vat, (some have a mill con- 
structed for the purpose, consisting of a hopper, 
fixed upon two lignum vitas rollers) press and mea- 



84 RECEIPT FOR MAKING CURRANT WINE. 

sure yonr juice, add two thirds water, and to each 
gallon of that mixture, (i. e. juice and water) put 
three pounds of muscovado sugar (the cleaner and 
drier the better; very coarse sugar, first clarified, 
will do equally well) stir it well, till the sugar is 
quite dissolved, and then turn it up. If you can 
possibly prevent it, let not your juice stand over 
night, as it should not ferment before mixture. 

Observe that your casks be sweet and clean, and 
such as never had either beer or cider in them, and, 
if new, let them be first well seasoned. 

Do not fill your casks too full, otherwise they 
will work out of the bung, which is by no means 
good for the wine ; rather make a proportionable 
quantity over and above, that, after drawing off 
the wine, you may have a sufficiency to fill up the 
casks. 

Lay the bung lightly on the hole, to prevent the 
flies, &c. from creeping in. In three weeks or a 
month after making, the bung-hole may be stopped 
up, leaving only the vent hole open till it has fully 
done working, which generally is about the latter 
end of October, It may then be racked off" into 
other clean casks, if you please ; but experience 
seems to favor the letting the wine stand on the 
lees till spring, as it thereby attains a stronger body, 
and is by that means in a great measure divested 
of that sweet, luscious taste, peculiar to new made 
wine ; nay, if it is not wanted for present consump- 
tion, it may without any damage, stand two years 
on the lees. 

When you draw off" the wine, bore a hole, an 
inch, at least, above the tap hole, a little to the side 
of it, that it may run clear off" the lees. The lees 
may either be distilled, which will yield a fine spirit, 
or filtered through a proper cloth, and returned 



RECEIPT FOR MAKING CURRANT WINE. 85 

again into the cask. Some put in spirit, but I think 
it not advisable. 

Do not suffer yourself to be prevailed on to add 
more than one third of juice, as above prescribed, 
in hopes that the wine may be richer, for that would 
render it infallibly hard and unpleasant; nor yet a 
greater proportion of sugar, as it would certainly 
deprive it of its pure vinous taste. 

By this management you may have wine, letting 
it have a proper age, equal to Madeira, at least su- 
perior to most wines commonly imported, and for 
much less money. 

In regard to the quantity of wine intended to be 
made, take this example, remembering that twelve 
pounds of sugar are equal to a gallon of liquid. 

For instance, suppose you intend to make thirty 
gallons only, then there must be, 



8 gals, of juice, 
16 of water, 

24 gals, mixture, 
6 gs. produced by sugar 



24 gis. mixture. 
3 multiplied by 

12)72 lb. sugar, 

equal to 6 gals, of liquid 
30 gallons. 

And so proportionably for any quantity you 
please to make. 

The common cider presses, if thoroughly clean, 
will do well in making large quantities : the small 
hand-screw press is most convenient for such as 
make less. 

N. B, — An extraordinary good spirit for medici- 
nal and other uses, may be distilled from currant 
juice, by adding a quart of molasses to a gallon of 
juice, to give at a proper fermentation. 

Note. — On some of the borders of a garden, the size of com- 
mon country gardens, currants enough are gathered, to make, 
nnually, 25 or 30 gallons. An acre well managed, would 
robably make at least 500 gallons. 



86 GRAPES CULTIVATED NEAR NEW-YORK. 

Currant Wine. — Doctor Dyer, in the Spring of 
1818, planted a currant vineyard of forty acres 
about a mile and a half from Providence, Rhode 
Island. — In 1821, he sent wine to the Editor of the 
N. Y. National Advocate, and expressed confi- 
dence that in a few years he should be able to 
make it produce two hundred pipes of v\^ine per 
annum. It was principally sold at Charleston, S. 
C, and in the West Indies. 



GRAPES CULTIVATED NEAR NEW-YORK. 

At the Fair of the Amer. Institute in New- York, 
October, 1845, a great variety of fine grapes were 
exhibited. From the Report made by Thomas 
Bridgeman, Chairman of the Committee on Fruits 
and Flowers, I gather the following facts : 

From R. L. Pell, (M. Cunningham. Gardener,) 
six varieties of grapes, raised without artificial 
heat^ viz. Black Hamburgh, St. Peters, White 
Sweet Water, Flame-colored Tokay, Isabella and 
Catawba. 

From Roswell Colt, Paterson, New Jersey, three 
varieties of house grapes, viz: Black Hamburgh, 
Black Damascus, and Royal Muscat; and four 
varieties raised without artificial heat, viz. Black 
Muscadine, Hamburgh, St. Peters, and White 
Muscadel. 

From Thomas Noyes, Stonington, Connecticut, 
three varieties of grapes, viz. Red Frontignac, 
Morocco, and Frontinel. 

In conclusion the Chairman observes—-" Our 
list of Fruit, it may be observed, embraces a de- 
scription of several of the best varieties of foreign 
grapes, also two varieties of the seedlings, raised 



DOMESTIC USES OF THE VINE. 87 

without the aid of artificial heat, which proves 
that our chmate is capable of fully maturing this 
delicious and valuable fruit. Like France. Italy, 
and Spain, we shall have our " vine-covered hills," 
and thus be rendered independent of other nations 
for a requisite supply of healthful and refreshing 
vines." 

Flushing has long been celebrated for its exten- 
sive Nurseries, and green-houses for the sale of 
trees, plants, flowers, and grape vines of every 
known description. The oldest establishment was 
that of the lale William Prince who is succeeded 
by his son William R. Prince, who now continues 
the business. The father and son are the authors 
of an excellent scientific and practical Treatise on 
the Vine, published in 1830. A great variety of 
Vines, adapted to the climates of our country, are 
sold by Mr. Prince. 

Messrs. Valk, in the same Village, have extensive 
grape-houses and green-houses, which are described 
as being very superior, and affording a model for 
others. 

Messrs Parsons — Winter &l Co. — King & Rip- 
ley, and E. Higgins, are all extensively engaged in 
the Nursery business, and are probably all cultiva- 
tors of grape vines for the market. These estab- 
lishments are an honor to the country. 



From the Vine Dresser's Manual, by Thiebaut de Berneaud. 

DOMESTIC USES OF THE VINE. 

To Dry Raisins. — This excellent mode of pre- 
serving a delicious fruit, has been in use from time 
immemorial. The Grecians twisted the foot-stalk 
and left the bunch on the vine until it withered, 



88 DOMESTIC USES OF THE VINE. 

when it was gathered and dried in the shade. 
Raisins, with them, formed quite a branch of com- 
merce. 

The small town of Roquevaire. (Bouches-du- 
Rhone) having gained an established reputation by 
its raisins, I shall give the recipe there practised. 
The Calabrians piepare them well also, but far less 
successfully than the inhabitants of Roquevaire. 
In that small tow^n they only dry white grapes. 
Tliey select the largest, pulpiest kinds, with few 
stones, and thinly scattered on the bunch. These 
are culled dead-ripe. Every berry with the least 
speck of rot upon it. is picked out and thrown away. 
A strong ley is then prepared from wood ashes, 
from 12 to 15° of strength for the salts of potash, 
ascertained by the aerometer. When on the point 
of boiling over, the bunches are plunged in and 
drawn out as soon as the berries are wrinkled. 
They are next put to drain ; after which they are 
spread on hurdles or reed mats, and kept in the 
sunshine from sunrise to sunset ; during the night 
they are sheltered under awnings. Ten fair days 
are" enough to dry them ; but if the weather is 
rainy, it takes longer. 

Roquevaire raisins are considered excellent ; 
they have a slightly acidulous, agreeable taste. 
Calabrian raisins are blackish, which is a fault, but 
they are sweeter than those of Roquevaire. v^pan- 
ish raisins are finer flavoured than either, but are 
generally prepared with too much negligence ; 
they do not keep as well, and are mixed with very 
small dry berries. The sort of Syrian raisins call- 
ed Damascus, and which have a gilded hue, are 
highly prized for their exquisite flavor and proper- 
ty of keeping, without alteration, for two seasons. 
The Corinth raisins and currants from Zante and 



DOMESTIC USES OF THE VINE. S9 

Liparij also enjoy great reputation ; those of Li- 
pari are often the worse for a little dirt or gravel ; 
but those of Zante are unexceptionable. They are 
small, rich, with the flavour of violets, and but a 
single seed. They are prepared from white and 
red grapes indiscriminately. 

Any family may prepare its own raisins, from 
perfectly ripe, handsome grapes ; but before expo- 
sing them to the heat of the stove or sun, they 
should, positively, be bleached in boiling ley. Many 
persons think boiling w^ater sufficient ; it is not : 
and the alcali of the ley, which has a great effect 
on fruits at the North, renders the skin tender. As 
it does not penetrate into the fruit, it does not in- 
jure the acid, which is the charm of the dried grape, 
without which it is cloying and dull. 

Grape Syrup or Sugar. — Parme?itier has left us 
quite a complete treatise on this subject, which 
should be consulted by all desirous of making the 
most of grape syrup. 

This liquor is made by taking from the vat, the 
must of dead-ripe white grapes ; if these cannot be 
had, the juice of black grapes expressed on pur- 
pose, and depriving it of its acids by mixing with 
it chalk, marble dust, gypsum, or spent-ashes. If it 
is to be prepared as soon as expressed, it need not 
be sulphured ; but stumming is indispensable to 
prevent fermentation, if there is to be a delay of 
only four and twenty hours. It must be sulphur- 
ed two or three times, and each time be poured out 
to cool very quickly in shallow trays or dishes. 
This syrup does not always need clarifying ; if it 
should, whites of eggs (in proportion to the quanti- 
ty) must be whisked in the liquid before it is boil- 
ed. This syrup is an excellent resource to tlie 
farm-house. 

8 



90 DOMESTIC USES OF THE VINE. 

In small vineyards, the wine of w^hich is not very 
sugary, or when the grapes do not ripen as is de- 
sirable, this syrup, added to the vat, corrects that 
fault. When not boiled to so concentrated a 
strength, this syrup v^ill, if put to ferment, make 
very pleasant cordial wines. 

In domestic economy, it is an advantageous 
substitute for sugar ; fine sweetmeats are made 
with it ; the very best of marmalade, and very good 
brandy fruits, &c. 

Grape Cordial. — Take dead-ripe black grapes, 
pick them and bottle them ; the vessels only half 
filled with the fruit, must then be filled with plain 
brandy, corked, and stood in the sun for a fortnight. 
After which, they must be emptied into a new, 
high-glazed, clean tureen, and the fruit must be 
mashed with the hand. The whole is then to be 
squeezed through a thick cloth, which must be 
wetted beforehand with brandy. The liquor thus 
strained, is returned into the bottles, with the ad- 
dition of a little cinnamon and some peach-stones, 
cracked, and thrown in, shells and all. The bot- 
tles are to be corked and stood in the sun another 
fortnight. The hquor must then be fihered through 
blotting paper ; and it is a delightful drink, very 
cordial and stomachic, and becomes the better the 
longer it is bottled. 

Marmalade. — With the must, various excellent 
mamalades are made ; that of Montpelier enjo^^s 
the highest name ; it is made from white grapes, 
boiled in the must to a clear jelly, and scented with 
citron and cedraty. The marmalade of L'Yonne 
and Loiret departments, though esteemed, is infe- 
rior to the former ; it is a little more tart and mix- 
ed with stone and seed fruits. 

The pears used for this purpose, are the Cres- 



DOMESTIC USES OF THE VINE. " 91 

sane^ Bergamot^ the Jargonelle^ the Virgouleiise^ 
the winter Boii Chretien^ the Russeting, or other 
firm kinds. Quinces are thought the most suita- 
ble mixture in marmalades ; apples and plumbs 
come next ; and lastly pumpkins, the rinds of green 
mangoes and melons, and sugary roots, such as 
carrots, parsnips, &c. These fruits must be select- 
ed very sound, cut small, and spread out on fair 
straw to mellow, before used. Table fruit is not 
fit for marmalade ; it is only fruit in an acerb state, 
that suits ; that which falls before ripening, is put 
aside for this purpose. The fruit must be pared 
perfectly, and the seeds, stones, and hearts, cut 
out. 

In the North and South both, two sorts of mar- 
malade are prepared, simple and compound. That 
made at the South, does not require as much cook- 
ing as that at the North. It contains, all other 
things being equal, less water, tartar and extractive 
matter, and more sugar. 

*' For the simple marmalade of the South, take 
6 gallons of must; one half must be put in a pre- 
serving pan over a quick fire, and the other half 
be gradually added every time the liquid boils up ; 
this boiling liquor must not be lost sight of for a 
moment, and the scum must be removed as fast as 
it rises; and it must be strained hot through a thick 
cloth. It must then be put back on the fire, and 
constantly stirred with a wooden spaddle until it is 
boiled to a jelly ; this is found by dropping a little 
on a dish, when, if it cools into a jelly, it has boiled 
sufficiently. 

" As for the simple marmalade of the North, when 
the 6 gallons have been skimmed and are reduced 
by boiling to 4 gallons, the pan is taken from the 
fire and the liquor poured into stone pans, where it 



92 DOMESTIC USES OF THE VINE. 

is left for 48 hours in a cool place. At the end of 
that time the surface is covered with crystals of 
salt of tartar, which must be removed with great 
caution with a skimmer ; the separation of this 
quantity diminishes the too marked acidity of the 
preserve, and increases its sweetness. This pro- 
cess is highly necessary in the North, and according 
to the season the tartar is in greater or less quan- 
tities ; but in the South, the presence of tartar is 
rather desirable to relieve the insipid sweetness of 
the sweetmeat, which is so great, that aromatics 
have to be used to give it a flavor. When skim- 
med of the tartar, the must is strained through a 
thin cloth, decanted and put back on the fire, where 
it must be stirred without ceasing. The must has 
become marmalade when it sets in a jelly, on being 
stood to cool. 

Compound marmalade of the South. When the 
must has been boiled to one half, and been suffi- 
ciently skimmed, it must be strained; and the 
peeled and quartered fruits must be thrown into 
the pan ; pour over them the liquor, which by the 
first boiling up, melts into the necessary fluidity 
for acting on the fruit, and softening it into a pulp ; 
stir constantly, until the boiled fruit is mashed and 
incorporated, and the whole syrup is one homo- 
geneous mass. Towards the last, the fire should 
be gradually moderated. To know when it is 
done, take about the size of a hazel-nut and drop it 
on a china dish ; if it does not sink flat, and if no 
moisture escapes from it forming an areola around 
it, the jelly is done. If the fruit has, on account of 
the vintage ripening late, been previously stewed — 
before adding it, the must should have nearly 
reached its final consistence. 

For the compound marmalade of the North — 



DOMESTIC USES OF THE VINE. 



93 



after the must has been thickened by boihng, and 
freed of its superabundant tartar, it is put back 
upon the fire with the fruits that are to be mixed 
with it, precisely regulating the whole in the way 
already mentioned for the compound marmalade 
of the South. But, as the fruit selected, is some- 
times so acid that the preserve could not be used 
without the addition of some sweetening, a little 
grape syrup is added, while boiling ; the syrup of 
sweetmeats, or Southern marmalade. The house- 
keepers at the North, who have not at command 
these means, first clay the must, that is neutralize 
it with powdered chalk; then boil it to a syrup, 
and afterwards add the fruit, and proceed with the 
reduction of the whole as before mentioned. 

An excellent marmalade is made from clayed 
must and pears in the proportion of 100 or 120 
pears to 4 gallons of sweet must, and 4 or 6 quinces ; 
it is sweet and mellow, with a slight tartness that 
heightens its h'agrance and flavor. The Northern 
marmalades are, on the whole, preferable to those 
of the South, in which the sugar and tartar are not 
in such relishing proportions. The conserve must 
be covered in pots from the air, and stood in a dry 
place. When it candies, a fittle must may be 
added to it, or the pots be stood in boiling water 
for several hours and the jelly well stirred. 

Grape Butter. In place of adding fruits of vari- 
ous kinds to the boiling must, some only add a 
certain portion of must that has been evaporated 
and concentrated to thickness ; the whole boiled 
to the consistence of jelly, is a very agreeable and 
healthy addition to the'table in fall and winter. 
This preserve is poured into pots, with cinnamon 
and cloves, and put in the bread-oven to bake, 
before it is considered sufficiently prepared for 



94 DOMESTIC USES OF THE VINE. 

keeping. Before serving it on the table it is slight- 
ly warmed and is eaten with buttered toast. 

Made Wines. — By made w^ine is understood a 
fermented table-drink, obtained from a mixture of 
concentrated must, brandy, and some spices of aro- 
matic seeds. The preparation of these wines, be- 
longs to the housekeeper or her daughters. 

Pick the ripest, finest, and most sweet smelling 
grapes of the Malvosie and the Muscat kinds, at 
the hottest time of day, to avoid the least humidity. 
Lay them on hurdles and transport them with great 
caution to the spot in which they are to be exposed 
to the sun. Here they must be left five or six days ; 
turned three times a day, and sheltered at night. 
The sixth day they are to be crushed in the vat. 
Of the must thus obtained, only the upper partis 
taken out for this purpose, the lower not being con- 
sidered so exquisite and rich. This cream of the 
must is put in a copper boiler over a clear charcoal 
fire, or at least a fire without smoke, where it must 
boil until reduced to one third, being in the mean- 
time carefully skimmed. It is then poured into 
new, or perfectly clean, wooden vessels, and when 
cold is transferred to casks and bunged tightly. 
The wine it makes, is of a pretty amber color, 
rich, delicate, and should be racked and bottled 
promptly. 

In some southern districts, as the liquid boils up, 
they throw in some anniseedand coriander; cinna- 
mon ; six apricot stones, shells and all, six peach- 
pits the same, and after it has stood forty-eight 
hours, it is strained through a wet cloth. It is 
then put aw^ay in vessels, and stands the whole 
winter, when it is drawn off clear, strained through 
a jelly-bag and bottled. 



EXPLANATION OF TERMS. 95 

EXPLANATION OF TERMS 
Used in cultivation of Grapes and making of Wine. 



Button, the bud of a vine before the leaf puts out. 

Bonnet, the scum or top of the Must, during 
fermentation. 

Bouquet, the fragrance or odour of wine. 

Body, the substantial vinous spirit. 

Dnj Wine, acid wine, or astringent wine. 

Dioecious^ a vine is dioecius when the stamens 
is on one vine, and the pistil on a separate vine. 

Espalier, trees or vines interwoven together. 

Generous Wine, a spirited wine. 

Hybrid, a mule — a vegetable production by the 
mixture of different species. The seeds of hybrids 
will not propagate. 

Laterals, an offset from the root of the cluster, 
back of the stem. 

Light Wine, a wine of little spirit. 

Must, the crushedgrapes before they are pressed. 

Marc, or Murk, the dry skins and seeds after 
pressing. — Sometimes called pumace. 

Polygamous, a vine is polygamous when it has 
the staminate and pistillate organs (sexual organs) 
on the same vines. 

Palisades, strong stakes pressed or set in the 
ground, for an enclosure. 



96 EXPLANATION OF TERM?. 

Pricked Wines^m^e those commencing to be acid, 
or sour. 

Spur^ a projection from the stock, cut down to 
one or two buds. 

Stumming^ is the burning in an empty cask 
strips of rag saturated with melted sulphur. 

Tendrils^ claspers, which twine around a branch, 
and confine the vine. 

Vintage, the whole crop from the vineyard. 

Vintner J a manufacturer of wine. 

Vigneron, a vine-dresser, one who prunes and 
cultivates the vine. 

Viscous, glutinous, stickey, tenacious. 



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